The Invisible
by CaptainInappropriate
Summary: After having a serious accident, Derek looms around the house unseen, learning things about his family he never expected. Eventual Dasey. R&R Please!
1. Threaten and Take

**AN: **Well then, I've spent the past two weeks reading every word of everything Dasey I could find, and I have to say that I was craving something new and different with their discovery/reveal situations. This is by no means an original idea, though I desperately wish it was. **This is based off that horrible movie The Invisible** that came out last year, and for the record, I do NOT recommend it, as I hated the whole thing.

But lo and behold, here I am writing this stupid story. And just pretend like you don't know what the ending's gonna be if you've seen that travesty.

Please enjoy the first 10 pages of my first LWD fic... and please let me know what you think. I'm rather thrilled that I've gotten myself to write again... I was going to use the tagline from the movie as the summary... but it was awful.

**Summary: **After having a serious accident Derek looms around the house unseen, learning things about his family he never expected. [Dasey

**Disclaimer: I own neither Life with Derek nor The Invisible.**

**-------------------------------------**

The Invisible

Derek Venturi had to get out of his house. It was Friday and he didn't care what anyone said about rules or curfews, not tonight.

Lizzy had tied up every female in the house with a twisted web of uncalled-for drama over a boy (and commandeered the couch on top of all that), leaving the men to become moody and aggravated. Edwin had locked himself away in the attic after having spent the evening unapproachable due to his foul mouth, while George had converted the dining room table into a home office for the night. The father of the household buried himself so deep in a case he couldn't even hear the curse words spouting from his youngest son before the loud retreat to his room.

Nora had spent the week wound up so tightly from work and stress from home that the instant Lizzie's first tear shed, the mother snapped and lashed out at anyone in the house not willing to either move out of the way, or lend a sympathetic ear. Casey, also gripped by the second-crush-melodrama, had come downstairs in her pajamas with a scowl for anyone other than her blood relatives and ready to resort to physical violence if interrupted.

Derek, the last one in the house to throw a temper tantrum, however surprising that fact may be, tried his hardest to ignore the ruckus in the house but eventually failed. Staying in his room for the night had proved impossible, as the family had inadvertently skipped right over dinner. Everyone had either distracted themselves well enough to forget food (but would be paying for it at about 2am) or had shoved their faces full of enough comfort foods to forego an appropriate meal.

Derek, however, lacked the need to distract or comfort himself, so he trudged downstairs with a growling stomach at twenty 'til nine in search for any kind of food. He stood in front of the refrigerator equally as long as he remained in front of the pantry, and eventually resurfaced to the island with a box of corn puffs. Fully intent on pouring himself a bowl and retreating back to the safety of his room, Derek got the milk and his dishes out before being completely attacked by most members of the family.

"Der-ek that is not a good supper!" George shouted from the table, noticing the movement in the kitchen while he thumbed through files.

"Well I haven't had any other food choice, now have I?" He bit back forcefully, the comment completely and totally ignored.

"Der-ek, you'd better clean up your mess." Nora berated, albeit in a softer tone. "Just because you chose to eat after everyone else doesn't mean that you can leave that bowl for the morning!"

Derek bit his tongue, not nearly as willing to snarl at her as he was to his father, but made sure to leave the cereal on the counter. Immature, sure, but Derek was positive that the bowls the girls had used would be on the coffee table when he came downstairs the next day.

Just as Derek was walking through the living room back to his room with the bowl, Casey shoved by him to get her little sister more chocolate milk. Half way up the stairs, a stabbing shriek rang through the house. "DER-EK!" He stopped and rolled his eyes, shoving a sloppy spoonful of cereal in his mouth as Casey stormed back into his line of sight holding the corn puffs box. "Mom just told you to not do this, and what do you do? Exactly what you weren't supposed to!"

Derek opened his mouth to defend himself, ready with a quip about using the same box in a few hours tomorrow anyway but Nora cut him off. "Derek," She stared, shock running deep in her voice. "I can't believe you'd do-"

"GOD- Derek you are SO... insufferable!" Casey cut off, her voice straining as she held nothing back. "You never think of anyone but yourself, ever! What exactly does purposefully doing the exact opposite of what was asked of you makes you... cool?!"

Derek was just about to reply with a lazy expression that he didn't need to start trying to be cool now, but Lizzy looked up at him with a scowl. "Yeah, Mom, what I wouldn't give to have just one day in my life where it wasn't all about Derek." His eyes widened at Lizzy as if to ask what he ever did to her, but was cut off once again. "It's been so long since my day didn't revolve around him that I almost forgot what it was like."

"Yes!" Casey rang out, sitting on the arm of the couch, eyes wide as she craned her neck forward to shout more. "And I can't remember a day when I didn't worry about anything I do coming back to haunt me with this one here." She pointed animatedly up to where Derek was staring at nothing while he stood on the stairs. Casey threw her hands up with a growl, nearly missing Marty who sat playing with a yo-yo string on the floor as if no one had even said a word.

"Just one day, Mom," Casey started, catching Derek's eyes for the first time since the screaming started. "What I wouldn't give to just have ONE DAY where he didn't exist!" The wish came out as more of a threat, with narrow eyes and a sassy head bob to punctuate it all.

Derek clenched his jaw and a dark expression passed over his face and he continued up to his room in a huff, ignoring the 'I'm not done with you' and 'where do you think you're going?' shouts coming from the couch.

He walked into his room and slammed the cereal bowl down on the desk, ignoring the bit of milk sloshing over the side onto the faux wood surface of his desk. "Like you existing is any better," he grumbled, wishing for all his might that he could go back out and fight back. Deciding to let a losing battle go, he threw himself into his desk chair and chewed on his bottom lip. An idea dawned upon him shortly after and he smirked darkly as he opened his email.

A letter from someone named 'Brenna' (he really had to start paying attention when he handed out his email address) told him all about a 'really kicking' party in Warwick tonight. Assuming he met her at a hockey game or some other out-of-town event, Derek read on, noting the warning to park down the street and to bring cash if drinking was in mind.

Derek punched in the address on the internet search engine and texted himself the directions before deleting the email and closing the map window, having learned a lesson in privacy weeks before. Stalking out of his room, he went up the stairs to Edwin's room and opened the door. "I need cash."

"God, Derek, no!" Edwin said from his position sprawled across his bed on his stomach, a magazine laid out before him. "I'm not your little-" Edwin planned on finishing the thought, but Derek walked over to the box labeled 'model airplane' and pulled out a few bills before leaving his fuming brother to himself.

Stomping down the stairs, Derek saw that predictably, all eyes were on him. They were apparently awaiting a reverb of some sort, but he grabbed the keys to his car and ripped his jacket off the hook and was out the door before anyone could so much as scream his name. Giving the car no time to warm up, Derek pulled away from the house and drove quickly towards the highway, not wanting anyone to follow him.

Blowing out a breath, he turned up the music as loud as he wanted to push the old speakers and shook his head slightly.

Like he didn't wish they weren't around either.

-------------------------

Casey smiled happily. She was showering with a new perspective on the activity. There was no line at the door, no dirty underwear thrown on the floor, no jock strap hanging off the towel rack... just her and a hot shower.

She was sure she was dreaming. Things were too patchy, like how she went from gushing with Emily over a guy who, as far as she consciously knew didn't exist, to enjoying herself in a shower. But this was amazing and she was going to enjoy it, damn it.

Stepping out of the shower, she used a large, clean towel to dry off and wrapped herself up before using a hand that she couldn't feel to wipe off a mirror that didn't reflect. "Best dream, hands down."

Casey woke up, the glee still present in her chest as she stretched slightly and pried her dry eyes open to look at the clock. She frowned slightly, noting that 3:18am was definitely too early to get up. Unable to fall back asleep immediately, Casey gently peeled the corner of her blankets back and stepped out of bed.

In the bathroom, she made a point to not notice the jock strap, the underwear, or the dirty, half-refolded towels littering the area. Looking in the mirror she sighed to herself, remembering how much she hated her 'just-woke-up' face. After using the toilet and rinsing her hands, Casey went downstairs and poured a half a glass of water and turned to make her way back to her warm bed. She walked by the mess on the couch and raised an eyebrow, remembering the night, and also noticing that Derek's jacket wasn't on the hook.

Once back up the stairs, Casey shoved open her step-brother's door just enough to see that he wasn't in there. Shaking her head, she turned back and went into her own room. "What an idiot." She muttered before climbing back under the covers.

3:19 found Derek at the party in Warwick, which was still going strong even five hours after he arrived. Despite being in a town he didn't know, with absolutely no familiar faces whatsoever, and being in a room with the occasional hockey rival, he was having a blast. The girls flocked to him just like home and he enjoyed having all new grounds to explore with them. There was no chance that he'd get drunk and try to idle up to someone that he'd already played, and there was no way any rumors would go back to Thompson High.

Although presently, Derek had to admit it was probably time for him to go home. After arriving in a snarl, the music, girls, and beer had gotten him to relax substantially. But now, he was seeing that the number of drunken hockey enemies in the room was steadily rising, and his buzz was quickly fading, so majority vote clearly went to walking back to the car.

"Hey, you- leaving?" A deep voice asked after Derek had pried the last drunk senior girl off his arm and left the house to walk down the sidewalk.

Derek raised an eyebrow and looked behind him to the guy approaching him. Noting with something close to relief, he saw there was no hockey pin on his letterman jacket, a soccer ball shone under the streetlights instead. Giving the guy a smooth grin as he continued walking, Derek told him 'yeah'.

The soccer player let out something close to a growl before grabbing Derek's elbow to whip him around before landing a fist right on his right cheek. "That was my girlfriend."

The first answer after placing a hand on his face for a split second was to send a violent upper-cut to the guy, sending him back several steps. "Which one?" Derek asked through a pant, his adrenaline running high. "I lost count." He finished with wide, sarcastic eyes and readied himself to fight as his competition rushed towards him, fists blazing.

----------------------------

The first thing Derek did after opening his eyes that morning was make sure he was in his room. Seeing every familiar detail, and discovering that he was in his bed in his clothes, he relaxed. A hand went up to his face, but he noticed that it didn't hurt. He grinned; soccer players were always scrawny and weak. Derek threw a glance at the clock and rolled his eyes, seeing that it was almost 12:30 in the afternoon.

It was expected and appreciated that no one woke Derek for breakfast on a Saturday, but annoying that no one got him for lunch. He shrugged after a moment of brooding, noting that he had slept through most of a hangover and had avoided a headache from a fight. Padding down the stairs quietly, Derek had every intention of finding Casey first, and making her regret the night before, but stopped short just outside the kitchen.

"This is ridiculous." George all but shouted. Apparently no one had undergone a mood up-grade. "Derek has absolutely crossed a line. I cannot believe that he-"

"Oh," Casey interrupted her step-father. Obviously no one had noticed the object of their ranting standing not ten feet away. "You can too believe it! You had to expect it. He's so-"

"Insufferable, I know." Nora then interrupted her own daughter. "This time he's gone too far. Of course George, if you had limitations on the car then-"

"Oh Nora, don't even try." George grumbled over the sound of Casey breaking in.

"For your information, I was going to say 'idiotic'. But that doesn't change the fact that he's insufferable." Derek peeked around the corner to see George pacing the kitchen, Casey eating celery with dip at the island, and Nora leaning against the stove impatiently. "Besides, it was nice to have the shower to myself today... just like my dream."

Derek furrowed his brow at this but shook his head. It was a little ridiculous that they were standing in the kitchen on a Saturday afternoon bitching about him. 'Hell,' he thought to himself, turning and heading towards the living room again. 'I'm the only one that wasn't psychotic last night. Who cares if I stayed out past curfew?'

He stood at the bottom of the stairs and contemplated going upstairs and blasting music, but decided against it. Derek walked towards the front door, deciding that fresh air before a lifetime's worth of grounding would be good. He moved to grab his coat off the hook, but stopped with his hand hovering over an empty hook. Apparently he had taken it up to his room. Deciding that he didn't want to go get it, he left the house, hearing Edwin shout down the stairs 'anyone heard from Derek yet?' before the door clicked shut.

The oldest child of the McDonald-Venturi clan looked out to the empty curb in front of him and cursed under his breath. Figures they'd take his car away while he was sleeping.

Derek shoved his hands in his jeans pockets and wished he had gone for the jacket, the brown sweater not quite doing the job against the cold November weather. He walked with his head down, kicking at pebbles along the sidewalk while he thought to himself.

He had no idea how he had gotten home... hell he hadn't even the slightest clue who won the fight he had gotten into. Hopefully he did, although it didn't much matter since he wasn't on his home turf. Still, the ego would be damaged if he hadn't kicked a soccer player's ass. There were so many possibilities to what he could have done last night that Derek had to sigh and shake his head to disperse gathering worry.

Sure, George knew that Derek partied and had a great time, but he had never found out about the drinking aspect of it... and had never asked. What if Derek had come home drunk and woke up the entire family rambling loudly about his fight? Was that the line he had crossed? He knew that he was just about sober again before he left, but seeming as how he couldn't remember anything, he must have had more.

Maybe he and the soccer player had called a truce and slung their arms around each other's shoulders and gone back inside to do keg stands for several hours...

Derek knew that was impossible.

He would never do a keg stand.

Stopping at the park, Derek huffed and kicked a rock before sitting down slowly on the green park bench and crossing his arms over his chest to keep warm. His face stung and he knew his cheeks were more than likely red against the weather.

Seeing Demmi, Derek grinned, crossing his legs and leaned back to throw his left ankle up to rest on his right knee in a relaxed way. "Hey, Demmi, where's Em?"

Demmi very slightly turned his face towards the bench, apparently eyeing the pebbles on the sidewalk as he walked by with his mother but never said a word.

Derek frowned and shook his head slightly. "0 for 1," he muttered and looked down. He could swear that the rock sitting next to his foot was the one he had kicked moments earlier.

------------------------

Derek walked into the house in a snit hours later and stood in the entryway without shutting the door, not entirely sure how he had wasted the whole day. "Alright," he exclaimed, holding both palms towards his parents where they sat on the couch with their backs towards him. "I know you're going to yell and threaten and take things. So let's just get it started so I can go to bed."

No one moved, and Derek dropped his hands with a dumb stare. "I get it," he started again. "I crossed a line, I was and idiot, I went too far- I heard it all this morning." Looking from one parental to the next, he huffed and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Nothing? Not even a 'shut the door, you're letting out all the warm air'?"

Finally, they both whipped around at the sound of Casey opening the door, and Derek had to stand and stare- wondering how he had let it fall shut without noticing. Jumping back to avoid being trampled by the step-sister from hell, Derek stared at his family as they continued to not acknowledge him at all.

"Idiot." She growled and threw herself down in the recliner. "Mom, this is-"

"Ridiculous, I know, Casey. For the hundredth time," Nora cut her off and shook her head.

"Fine, I freaking get it!" Derek all but shouted, his patience exhausted. "Derek doesn't exist, right Case?"

As expected, no one answered and he stomped up the stairs two at a time, and into his room. He briefly contemplated going out the window and escaping to a friends house, but knew that no one was home this weekend. That was the reason he was at home on Friday night in the first place.

Derek threw himself down on the bed and looked over at the clock to see it reading 7:15. He wouldn't get dinner. Vaguely wondering why he wasn't hungry after skipping four meals, Derek fell into a light sleep, not noticing Casey opening the door and scanning the room silently before retreating.

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Derek woke up at nine Sunday, blinking for several long minutes before his mind took over. Were they still ignoring him? Could he finally eat? And just how the hell had he gotten home again?

Stretching, and surrendering to the fact that his head wouldn't let him sleep again, Derek stood and traded his dirty clothes for a blue long sleeved shirt and another pair of jeans before tearing his door open and walking out. He carried himself with a purpose through the house and stopped in the kitchen, finding George leaning against the counter with his head in his hands, Nora staring blankly at the skillet as an omelet cooked, and Casey sitting at the island with her head resting on one fist while she did homework.

"Let me have it." He barked, holding his arms out, appearing defenseless. No one responded. "I get that you're playing the guilt card, and great! It's working. Silent treatment accomplished."

Casey sat up to turn the page of her text before resuming her same position, and George rubbed his hands across his face before standing and crossing his arms over his chest to stare out the window.

"Casey, god, nothing about being an idiot?" He asked, turning his attention to her. "Insufferable?" Casey didn't even flinch, and Derek had to commend her later for being able to hold an expression like that. "Come on, I get it- didn't you hear me?"

Nothing.

Derek narrowed his eyes at her and pursed his lips before grinning. "Last Thursday I saw you naked." He was sure that would at least get a blush. It wasn't true, but that didn't mean it wouldn't make the wheels turn.

He got nothing. "Okay, so I didn't." He relented, turning slightly away before facing her again. "I want to see you naked?" He gagged silently, but never took his eyes off of hers. "I'll get you naked?... Anything?"

Several seconds passed before Casey leaned back to turn another page and stuck her pencil in her mouth. Derek was preparing to send out a quip about things to put in her mouth when his patience suddenly snapped. He shoved her out of the way and used both hands to send her text book, spiral and book bag flying down to the floor, sliding to a stop at the doors to the dining room.

Derek huffed and stared at the books for a moment before looking back to the island. A terrified squeak escaped him at the sight before him. Casey was in the same position, reading the same book, on the same page with the pencil in her mouth. George and Nora hadn't moved a muscle. Derek's eyes flew down to the floor, where there was no evidence of the school supplies ever being there.

"Hello!" He called, rushing up to his dad and waving both hands back and forth. "What the hell is going on!?" Derek darted over to Nora to put his hands on her but found that he couldn't.

He backed away from his family and put both hands on his head, tangling them in his hair as he considered pulling it all out. He looked down with a start and saw that he was wearing the clothes that he had just changed out of.

Derek lost his breath then, backing up to the wall and sliding down it to sit on the floor. What was going on? He placed his head in his hands and stayed there for several long minutes.

George ground out a mirthless laugh, starting Derek into clambering up the wall to a standing position. He convinced himself that the laugh meant the jig was up- the joke was on him.

"You know what I just can't decide?" George asked, turning to face his wife across the kitchen. Casey finally looked up from her work to listen. "Whether or not this is just one of his idiot pranks. In ten hours, we'll have to call the police- and if this is one of his fits..." he trailed off and Nora worried her bottom lip with no response.

Everyone in the room decided to ignore the fact that George had been all about the prankster gene just days before.

Nearly a full minute later, everyone silently staring at the air, Casey piped up. "Of course he's being an idiot, George." She said confidently. "He'll pop back in here and expect we bow down to him like always."

Derek scoffed, noticing that he had both hands fisted under his chin in a childish, defensive stance. He dropped his hands and walked closer to Casey to watch her go back to her books. She had given a good explanation, but her eyes told him she was scared to death.

"What did I do?" He asked her, leaning over to see her when she unnoticeably unhooked her hair from behind her ear to let it hang over her face.

Moments later, a tear escaped her, and Derek had to shove himself away from the counter. He backed out of the kitchen and turned to see the other three children sitting on the couch in front of the TV. Marti seemed to be measuring the coffee table with her shoe laces, while the other two stared at cartoons. Every few seconds, Edwin would cast a sideways glance towards the door.

Derek sat down heavily at the dining room table and rolled his head back and forth across his shoulders to loosen tension. "You're invisible." He said, disbelieving. Standing up, Derek went over to the window facing the street and looked at the empty curb. "Apparently I never got home." he thought out loud, looking around once again for his jacket.

He cast a glance to Casey as she hugged her books and rushed up the stairs without facing anyone. "And no one knows where I am."

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Please, someone, let me know what's up.

fullxcircle


	2. Invisible and Unable

Thanks so much for the reviews guys! I'm super excited that so many of you left me feed back and that even more put this story on alert! That's fairly awesome. So- I'm going to try and respond to all the reviews, I'll put that at the bottom. This chapter wasn't nearly as long as the first was, but **I needed to sit down and have a long meaningful talk with myself about how much I want this to be like the movie**. And then maybe I should go rent it... to yanno... remember that crap ending. I can, with uttermost certainty tell you the ending will NOT be the same. That was rancid. Anywho- enjoy, and thanks so much!  
PS- I don't have a beta- but I write it half asleep and then go back over it the next day... That way is a) like reading a new story and b) not ingrained into my head so much I can't see mistakes! Hope it's cleaned up enough for you guys!

**Summary: **After having a serious accident, Derek looms around the house unseen, learning things about his family he never expected. [Eventual Dasey

**Disclaimer: I own neither Life with Derek nor The Invisible. Included in my non-ownage, the shouting monolog in which Derek tries to tear the house down. That's nearly word for word from the movie. Don't own that. **

**-------------------------------------**

The Invisible  
_Invisible and Unable_

Derek sat in the living room with his legs lazily crossed as he leaned back in his recliner and watched the kids for what seemed like hours. Lizzy and Edwin were silent for the most part, casting sideways glances at the door each time a car drove by on the street. Marti had become bored at least an hour ago, running off to find some sort of distraction from the tension in the house.

Derek felt horrible. In the past years, he had played countless pranks just to try and elicit this type of reaction from them, but he never once figured that this is what would happen if he disappeared. This was different; they had to know that this was different. He'd have never stayed gone for this long intentionally... 'I think.' Derek sighed.

He sat back and closed his eyes tightly, pressing his fists against them as he tried his hardest to remember anything past the first punches of the fight. Absolutely nothing came to him, and the thought that had been hanging over him since the scene in the kitchen finally escaped his lips. "What if I'm dead?" Derek asked the kids sitting on opposite ends of the couch.

The thought lingered around him, creating a feeling of dread, entrapment. Death was permanent. Derek didn't do permanent things often. Unable to keep his mind from floating to the 'I'll never get to,' and the 'What if' abyss, he got up and wandered into the kitchen once again.

Nora left George alone in the kitchen to his thoughts, presumably in their basement bedroom to occupy her mind. Derek idled up to the kitchen island and looked over his father's shoulder at a list. Several names and places were on that list, with Sam at the top and the hospital at the end. Over half of the large list were crossed off, and with the phonebook at his side, George picked up the cordless phone and dialed Ralph's parents' number.

Derek lifted himself up on the stool and listened to the negative responses from each number down the list, then followed the pen's ballpoint as it scribbled out another name. Four were left when Derek's father set down the phone and looked across the kitchen at nothing. Leaning in closer, Derek saw emotions swirling through his dad's eyes, and a feeling of guilt washed over him. "Dad," Derek started, watching as George thumbed through the phonebook to the London hospital. George picked up the phone and hesitated before dialing the first half of the number.

"I'm dead." Derek finished, a simple statement, as if he were telling his father that he was hungry, or ready to go to hockey practice.

George stopped mid-dial and hung up the phone, leaving the counter suddenly. Derek looked down at the last four numbers on the list; the hospital, urgent care, 9-1-1, and Derek's mom.

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Casey sat up in her room at her desk, trying in vain to carry on a light conversation with Emily over the internet. No more than ten minutes into it, she forced herself to ask her best friend if she had possibly seen Derek in the past day and a half. At Emily's negative but questioning response, Casey said goodbye and disconnected.

She hated herself more than ever right now. Every fiber in her being wanted her to believe that Derek was being an ass, staying out because she had told him she didn't want him around anymore. But in the back of her mind, she couldn't help but wonder what had really happened. Casey knew that Derek kept his wallet with him wherever he went, so he had identification on him. The sarcastic side of her crooned that the morgue would have called by now.

Moving to sit on her bed with one leg folded under her, Casey grabbed a book and held it, closed, in both hands. She chewed her bottom lip and frowned. The feeling that Derek was about to walk in the room and disrupt her peace was so thick that she stared at the doorknob without blinking.

With a long, meaningful sigh, Casey opened her book and stared at the words, using the pages as a distraction rather than a form of entertainment. No more than two paragraphs in, a small, annoying tickle ran up her spine, giving her goose bumps and causing her eyes to dart back up to the door. Nothing happened for several seconds, and she returned her eyes to the book, forcing herself to read and take in every word.

Derek sat down next to Casey on her bed, not having to turn around to see that the door he had left opened when he entered was closed as if he hadn't touched it. He watched her closely while she read, leaning forward slightly to follow the pattern her eyes took. They would dart back and forth for a few seconds before stopping, seemingly staring right through the book. Casey would blink and raise her eyebrows, annoyed, before going back to actually reading.

Nearly ten minutes of sitting under Derek's scrutinizing stare, the goose bumps ran back up her skin again and Casey huffed after visibly shivering and slamming the book down on the bed next to her. Derek's eyebrows shot up, toying with the idea that she could feel him there.

"Damn it, Derek." Casey muttered crossing her arms in a pout. "What the hell did you do?"

"Hey whoa whoa whoa," Derek defended, holding a hand out towards her as if to hold her back. "I didn't do anything."

"He's doing this to annoy me," she tried to convince herself, standing up from her seat and moving to look out the window.

"I am not!" Derek stood as well, and took a moment to think that over. "Though it is totally something I would consider doing. But that doesn't mean I did!"

Several long minutes passed, and Derek surveyed the room, thinking about trying to find a diary he knew she kept. His eyes snapped back to her when he heard a sniffle, and seeing the tears, he crossed his arms.

"Why do you care?" He asked, knowing the answer. The girl had a knack for making herself feel guilty, usually to the point of making herself ill. He always figured it was another way to make herself the center of attention. It wasn't that Derek was missing... it was that she had told him to get lost and he did.

"You have got to be the most complicated person in this house, Casey." Derek accused, uncrossing his arms and moving to sit on her bed. He threw one leg up onto the comforter and laid a hand over his bent knee. "You always have to know everything that's going on in this place, yanno that?"

Casey wiped the few stray tears off of her cheeks with the back of a hand and then transferred the salty water to the side of her jeans. Sitting down in her desk chair, she picked up a math text book, running her fingers over the raised lettering of the cover.

"You've always had your fingers in everything." Derek started, raising easily off the bed and coming to stand next to her, bending at the waist to hover. "Fingering through this house," Derek jabbed a finger at the desktop to punctuate himself, feeling anger boil in his chest. "And me, my room." He placed both hands on the arms of her chair, turning her to face him completely as his tone rose to the level of shouting. "But whenever anything happens, you have to put up your walls! DON'T! Don't feel a thing, Casey, you don't wanna ruin your face! Your 'pretty' face!"

Casey let out a pitiful squeak and held onto his shoulders when his hands snapped up to hold either side of her head while he screamed in her face. "I'm out there, Casey, probably somewhere in the mud! I am DEAD, Case! And you're sitting here!" He grabbed the textbook that had fallen into her lap and threw it across the room, hitting her tall shelves near the door and causing an avalanche of papers. "Sitting here with your projects, and your herbal tea, and your books!" Using both hands, he shoved all the text books and her laptop off the top of the desk, sending them all smashing to the ground.

Derek watched as Casey stared at him, silent and wide-eyed as his face was burning hot, his heart pounding in his chest, his throat becoming raw from screaming. "I wish you could see me right now, Case!" He knew that she couldn't. This was just a figment of what was now his supernatural world. "So you know how SICK I am of you! I am SICK of you- and your perfect world! I am sick of you 'cause it's NOT perfect!" Derek grabbed the desk lamp and hurled it towards her window, smashing it out and letting the cold Canadian air in the house as he yelled, "You hear me?"

Derek finally stilled, huffing after his tantrum, and let his wild eyes scan across the ravaged room. As his eyes connected with the window once again, he saw it was perfectly intact, the lamp was once again in its rightful spot, and Casey was still staring at her text with glazed eyes, unaffected by the one-sided fight.

He shook his head and turned to leave, trying his hardest to slam the door loud enough for her to hear. Derek bound down the stairs and all but jogged back into the living room.

Edwin was still sitting on the couch, but Lizzy had disappeared. He was obviously staring right through the television instead of taking in the weekend cartoons. Derek sighed, trying to calm himself from both his anger, and his fear.

It was odd for his brother to be inside on a nice Sunday like today, he was usually out back or running around scheming and plotting with Lizzy. Today, they were both subdued and Derek knew why. He sat down in his recliner and stared intently at the sliding glass doors to the kitchen across the house.

"Has George said anything else yet?" Lizzy quietly asked as she appeared down the stairs, and Derek realized they had both actually been trying to eavesdrop rather than watching TV.

"Nobody's talking in there, guys." Derek said, watching Edwin shake his head slightly. "They're sulking pretty hardcore."

"Do you think he'll call the cops?"

"I don't think know." Derek's interest peaked, and before he could question why, Edwin answered. "Dad thinks that Derek is just playing tricks again."

"Again!?" Derek blurted out, leaning forward in his chair to better see his siblings. "I've never done anything like this," He reasoned and raised an eyebrow to reason. "I don't know why you people think I would."

That was a lie. Derek knew it was futile to try and defend that point due to fact that he would actually consider doing this on purpose, and actually had in one way or another on more than one occasion.

His eyes slid across the room to watch as Marti scooted across the hardwood floors, absently steering a small, plastic dump truck. The only place he had seen her this entire weekend as sitting quietly on the floor. Friday night, she had been playing with string, and earlier today she was messing with the coffee table. Now, she was playing quietly, wearing a tutu and a tiara matching the pink scarf wrapped around her neck and shoulders. Derek noted that she was being painfully quiet and realized with a sick feeling in his stomach that her bright eyes looked completely clouded with grief and confusion even as she played. He berated himself for being the reason she was feeling that way.

Derek stood, considered using the sole of his shoes to try and break the coffee table in half, but turned and walked to the front door and left the house. It was now about noon, and in nine hours, he'd have been gone for 48 hours. A missing person's report could officially be submitted, but from the looks of things, Derek's dad trusted him so little that he was going to forego that option.

That was not acceptable. Derek wasn't entirely sure, but a nagging feeling told him he was dead- or dying. In the movies, things like this only happened when people were dead. There was no other explanation for him to be walking around his house, invisible and unable to make any sort of impact on his family.

Taking a lazy stroll around the block, Derek observed each house, wondering if he'd ever really talk to anyone that lived in them again. Most of them held adult families that he didn't remember, but several held students that he had grown up with, that all knew him even if he didn't know them.

Derek finished his walk and decided nothing could be done except to try to figure some things out. He idled up to the porch and sat down on the stairs, leaning back on his elbows to watch the world beyond his family.

His blended family was a curious monster, and he would love nothing more than to be able to get into the heads of those around him. Derek ran his hand over his hair a few times, annoyed that it was in his face while he was trying to think, and let out a long breath. He knew he had to figure out what happened. The only thing left to do now was to go to Warwick.

------------------------

_Alrighty, guys, there's chapter 2. The shouting scene was shamelessly stolen almost word for word from the movie... thank you to YouTube... _

_Alpha K9- Thanks for begging! I wasn't going to update this for about a week or so, but I definitely decided it needed to have more soon! Good luck with the internet._

_Fairiekween13- Thanks so much! I wasn't planning on ending it exactly there, but then when I read the last sentence I was a) exhausted and b) thinking 'that's dope!' :-D_

_Kallie Lynne- Aww thanks! I'm really glad you liked- and stoked that I'm on your alerts! Look forward to an email about every week! ;-)_

_finktivication-Hah thanks! You have NO IDEA how many times I picture myself going hog-wild at work and just throwing things around and flipping out. I wish I could burst like that and just have it all fix itself! _

_Redrose08- I personally don't recommend the movie, LOL. Apparently somewhere in my head I thought it was actually good, since it stuck around long enough to nag me into writing a fanfic based on it! Gawd, sometimes I think I'm pathetic. :-D thanks tons!_

_Coolbeanie- Thanks dude! I am loving all the fics on this site, but really they're seeming so formula after reading so many at once. They fight, then love, then get caught/dread telling the family... other writers hit it out of the park but I just can't get it down. And since I'm such a lush for anything supernatural- what better way to get Dasey accomplished than some good 'ol invisible spying from Derek! Thanks again, love!_

_Ghostwriter- thanks, I'll catch _you_ on the flip side. ;-)_

_Molly- what did you think of the movie? I'm struggling with how close to keep this to it... Thanks so much for the review!_

_Sydmoonlight- Word up, it TOTALLY sucked! Thanks so much for the review- I was pretty nervous about doing justice to the idea... that and writing a good story when I hate the idea... wow that's complicated. I am MOST DEFINITELY not keeping the ending the same... that's lame and I am 100 percent all for getting the girl in the end. Who isn't?! So I'll mull it over this week, how close to run this plot to the movie... I'm glad I'm not the only one who didn't like it!_

_CiaoEdie- heck yes he is! Thanks for the review, I shall update ASAP!_


	3. Silent and Alone

Alright, it's been over a week. But what can I say? I was laying face down on the floor... :-D This seemed a little slow for a minute to me, but then I looked down and saw how many pages I had and actually cut it off before I intended to. So I hope it reads as easily as it was written! Here's to three hours of my afternoon on my butt... actually- here's to writing 12 pages in only three hours.

Sidenote, I have Derek swear a time or two in here, mainly because I have a foul mouth and, really, what else are you going to say at a time like this?

Enjoy

**Summary: **After having a serious accident Derek looms around the house unseen, learning things about his family he never expected. [Eventual Dasey

**Disclaimer: I own neither Life with Derek nor The Invisible.**

_**EDIT: I changed the hospital protocols today, after thinking all night about it, and talking to my buddies about it. Like I said, I don't have to deal with stupid human medicine politics, but, thank you to the anonymous reviewer. PS, your ideals are quite off mark, but valid anyhow. Thanks!**_

**-------------------------------------**

The Invisible  
_Silent and Alone_

Casey walked down from her bedroom that Sunday night, ready to stare blankly at her food all though dinner. Eating was so far from her mind right now that it took several moments to realize that the smell invading her room was garlic bread and that it meant it was time to eat.

Stopping at the bottom of the stairs, Casey brought a hand up to her hair where it lay on her shoulders, and tugged on a small section of it. How many times had she wished for an evening or two without Derek? How much concentration had she put into getting Derek to go to Spain with his mom for 6 months? How many times had she told him to get lost, following the command with a long line of insults and curses? Now here she was, Derek free, and scared senseless.

Slowly making her way to the table, Casey sat in her chair and started to fuss over some wrinkles in her placemat while her mother started to bring the dishes out from the kitchen. Casey took her hands off of the cloth and folded them silently in her lap, watching as bowls of mashed potatoes, corn, salad, and a platter of fried chicken were placed on the table. Edwin placed glasses for each of the spot, including Derek's, followed by a pitcher of juice and another of water. Lizzy followed closely, giving each placemat a plate, and lastly, Marti made circles around the table, placing a napkin and the silverware in their respective spots.

Casey stared at the empty plate in front of her, wearing the most informal outfit that would be allowed at dinner; track pants and a long-sleeved blue shirt. She wasn't interested in getting anymore dressed up that night. Coming out of her daze just enough to realize that she hadn't had to help set the table, Casey poured herself some water and took a small sip while the children waited for George and Nora to join them.

"Alright, kids," George started, pulling out Nora's chair for her before circling back to his own seat. "Let's all eat and relax, and then we'll talk about a plan for Derek's latest stunt afterwards."

Casey bit her lip and concentrated all her energy on filling her plate with equal portions of food, trying her hardest to keep the different items from mixing with each other. She grinned to herself very slightly with her lip still between her teeth, remembering how many times Derek would walk by and ruin her dinner by not only sticking his used fork in her food, but stirring them all up into a mess that she just couldn't handle. A frown replaced the smirk on her face and she loaded her fork with the fluffed potatoes and stared at it for a long moment before shoving it in the corn and placing the whole load in her mouth.

Everyone at the table was oblivious to what Casey was doing, and she was slightly thankful for it. She nearly spat the concoction back out on her plate, the texture of the two dishes clashing against her tongue, but instead watched the rest of the family and continued to eat one food at a time.

"Mom," Lizzy started, in as normal of a tone as she could muster. "Do you think..." Casey watched her little sister speak and noticed that she decided to change the question completely before she vocalized it. "I could go over to Stephanie's house next weeked?"

"Sure, honey." Nora said, knowing as well that Lizzy had held her tongue. "Next weekend will be great."

Everyone at the table inwardly rolled their eyes at Nora's attempt to reassure the family. The nagging feeling that Derek was playing a trick had passed, and each member of the family started to feel the heavy weight of what was happening as the 48 hour mark rushed upon them.

Edwin was the next to try and start a normal conversation. "Hey- Teddy got suspended today!"

Lizzy rolled her eyes and looked over to her step-brother. "I'm shocked he hasn't been expelled from the district. What'd he do?"

"He tied up Steven on the jungle gym. Just like he did-" Edwin looked up to Casey, remembering how Derek had decided that the whole day with Teddy a few months back hadn't happened. "Before."

George caught the change in tone and narrowed his eyes at his youngest son. "Edwin, has Teddy tied you up?"

"No." Edwin answered, brightening. "Surprisingly. He's a big fan of Derek's, go I guess that mean's I'm safe. He actually teams up with me from time to time."

"Uh huh," George set his drumstick down on his plate and used the cloth napkin to wipe off his hands. "And you're not going to be getting suspended any time soon, are you?"

Lizzy laughed, the sound shocking Casey out of her thoughts of the day that Derek seemingly lost it after Teddy visited for the day. He'd probably be proud of his little protégé.

"Daddy," Marti whined, squirming in her seat while she pushed her food around on her plate. "Kitties don't eat chicken! I'm sorry, but I just can't do this."

Casey smiled at the little girl, thankful that she was such an entertainer. "Marti," Casey started, setting her fork down and leaning on both elbows to give the littlest kid all of her attention. "Kitties do eat chicken. They love it."

"Nuh huh!" Marti screeched, her eyes narrowing as she turned towards Casey. "They eat kitty food!"

"Well, kitty food is made out of chicken. And since you have to eat people food, chicken is perfect. You should eat your chicken tonight, and I'll show you the kitty food in the pet store ads tomorrow." Casey held Marti's glare for a few moments before the younger girl seemed to snap out of her tantrum and started eating her chicken happily.

"Nicely done, Case." Edwin said with a grin, his eyes seeming happier too.

The six of them continued eating, the dark cloud still hanging over the meal, but a better attitude shining through, at least for the moment. Not long after Nora passed out cinnamon rolls, the family was helping clean up. Casey decided to actually participate this time, piling the plates on top of one another and taking them to the kitchen.

She stood in the kitchen, scraping the plates into the garbage disposal quietly, and couldn't help but frown. She had to admit that dinner had been better than she expected, speaking of both the attitude and the meal itself, but her nerves were on end the entire time. Derek had been gone for two days now, but she hadn't really felt his absence until she forced herself to pry open her math book and study for a test she had to write at the end of the week.

Even though she knew very well that Derek hadn't been in the house the entire weekend, Casey hadn't felt entirely alone. True, the rest of the family were there, but right now, washing the dishes by herself, Casey felt like the missing piece of the house destroyed the entire puzzle that her family seemed to be.

Casey sighed and scrubbed at the dishes, not noticing that she was slopping small puddles onto the counter. Leave it to Derek to be the biggest nuisance in her life whether or not he was even there.

George and Nora walked into the kitchen no more than a half an hour later, and found Casey wiping off the counters and subconsciously rubbing at a wet spot on her abdomen that showed up after she started sloshing the water all over the kitchen. They had spoken to the other children and told them their idea of what to do, and now they had to talk about the more mature aspects with Casey.

"Casey, honey," Nora started, sitting at the island and motioning for her to join them. Casey decided to just lean against the counter facing them, working at her wet spot with a dry washcloth. "We're not going to call the police tonight."

Casey didn't look up but her brow knitted together as she rubbed at her shirt lightly. "We just want to give it a few more hours." George continued. The two adults in the house had spent the entire day deciding what to do, and found their current proposal was the best idea. "We're both going to work tomorrow, and all of you are going to school. I will go down to the station before I even come home if we haven't found anything out by then."

Casey bit her lip and looked up to them. "You know they have the 48 hour rule for a reason right?" She asked in low tone, though the anger and fear that laced her mind was evident. "Derek has his phone, his car, and his wallet. He would have at least called by now. I think this is a horrible idea." Casey threw down the rag and stood up, huffing before continuing with a louder tone. "Most people are banging down the police station doors after just 12 hours!"

"Casey," Nora stopped her, holding a hand out to calm her daughter. "George and I have been on and off the phone with detectives the entire weekend. We both knew very well that we couldn't do anything formal until tonight."

Casey frowned and surrendered to the stool on the opposite side of the island from her parents. George put his hand over Nora's on the countertop and continued on for her. "We both think it's important for the six of us to sleep through tonight and get through tomorrow before we take anymore action. Then, if need be, we can keep you all home from school on Tuesday. I'd just feel better giving him just a few more hours."

Casey snorted and moved her eyes to stare at the counter in front of her, her hands still fussing over the damp spot on her shirt. "Have you called the hospitals?" She hadn't had any idea that her parents had actually been in contact with the police. She figured now that they hadn't wanted to alarm anyone, but everything inside of her knew that they needed to be out looking for the trouble maker of the family.

"The hospital and all the urgent care offices in London and Toronto. We checked our accounts and he hasn't taken any money from either of us, and Edwin said that Derek only took twenty from him. That'll barely get a tank of gas." Nora answered.

"Oh yeah?" Casey snapped her eyes up to her mother's. "And a tank of gas can get him what? Two hundred, three hundred miles on the freeway? He could be out of the providence, he could be in the States, he could have wrecked his car two hundred miles away from here!"

"Casey, please," Nora soothed, understanding completely where Casey was coming from, but also knowing that they had come to a decision. "He's got his identification with him, we would have been called. And he doesn't have his passport to leave the country."

"Casey, you have to trust us, we'll call tomorrow. We swear on it." George defended, and watched as his step-daughter blinked back angry tears.

Casey straightened and set her jaw, taking several deep breaths and going over everything that he parents had just told her. They were right about the ID. She had even thought of that hours ago. And even though the US was a whole 45 minutes away, she knew he'd never get over there without a passport, not to mention he wasn't even 18.

"Ok." She said, defeated. "Ok." Casey chewed on the inside of her lip for a short moment before continuing. "But I hope you know that no one in this house is going to sleep tonight, and no one is going to be paying attention in school tomorrow."

Casey listened to the both of them reassure her that it'd be alright and say goodnight, and made her way up the stairs without saying anything to the rest of the kids in the living room. She was certain that they had eavesdropped on the conversation anyway. Making her way up the stairs, Casey walked into her bedroom and closed the door before leaning against it.

_'No one is going to be paying attention in school tomorrow.'_

Her own words rattled in her head and she sighed. Derek was Derek- _the _Derek. Everyone would ask where he was, especially the ones that had been called over the weekend. What was she going to say?

Casey bit her tongue to keep from crying, but her throat ached and her lips quivered despite it. It was going to be a long night.

---------------------

Derek walked up the street he remembered the party being on and looked around. He hoped this was the place, but it had been late when he arrived, and through the alcohol and the anger, he wasn't entirely sure where he was. Walking through the middle of the street, Derek eyed the cars lining the street, wondering for a moment if he had chosen the wrong street. Just before he was about to turn a corner and cut through the yards beside him to the next block over, he caught sight of his car and smiled.

Derek ran the rest of the way to the car, stopping when both palms smacked against the glass of his drivers' side window. He grinned at his reflection in the glass, and tried to open the door. The handle jiggled, but of course, didn't budge. "Oh yeah," Derek criticized himself. "Always lock your door in a neighborhood you don't know. Don't want the fucking thing to get stolen!" He kicked the door, hard, knowing that if he had been able to, he would have left a dent.

He pat his pockets, knowing the keys weren't there, and peered through the glass again. Derek shook his head, and rested it against the cold window. The entire list of "Derek's Rules for Partying" was playing against him.

_Rule 1_: Lock your door. No need to get the car stolen, or have a drunk friend puke in it.

_Rule 2_: Leave the wallet in the car. Again, no need to lose the wallet, and if the need to run arises, it's easier to get away with no ID.

Finally, _Rule _3: Always park legally. A parking ticket could do anything from lead a meter maid to the party, to letting George know where he really was.

Derek slid down the car until he was sitting on the asphalt. Just _one_ parking ticket, and George, Nora, hell- even _Casey_ would at least know he was in Warwick. Then they would know that he hadn't run off, and he didn't have his phone, wallet, or car.

Standing, Derek looked up the street and vaguely wondered where his keys had gone. Looking to his right, he could clearly see the house that he had partied in at the top of the hill, just slightly around a corner. There were fences around the manicured lawns and gardens, and there was very obviously enough traffic that someone, anyone would have noticed if Derek's body was sprawled out somewhere along this street. With a huff, Derek tossed his head to the side to get his hair out of his eyes and turned away from the house, walking away from it and the car.

He had to be around here somewhere. Derek desperately wished that he could be in a movie, or one of those cheap TV shows, where he would start feeling something if he was close to his body. Nothing tingled through his fingertips, nothing gave him a sense of dread, and nothing seemed out of place. Knowing that if he followed this street, he'd eventually be at the south end of the main street in Warwick, Derek continued on. Maybe something there would jog his memory.

Derek shoved his hands in his pockets while he walked down the slight hill, wondering what to do. George and Nora apparently had no intention in finding him anytime soon, and Casey was so self-absorbed that she was probably still sulking in her room. Derek wished, even prayed that he could find a way to get through to one of them. If not to get them to find his body, but to clear his name. He was shocked that they thought so little of him that they would take no immediate action when he had been gone for three days.

Derek let out a long breath and wondered when he had become such a black sheep. He hadn't noticed that he had gone from mischievous straight to so untrustworthy that people would give up on him without a thought. What he wouldn't give for Casey to be hunting for her feel-good family moment right now. Hell, he'd straight up **give **her a family moment. Derek laughed sardonically and glared at his feet while he walked. His favorite part of all of this is that he hadn't even done anything this time. The entire house had been against him for no reason, and he left to go to a party. He hadn't insulted anyone beyond repair, he hadn't crossed Casey to the point of her teaming up with the family, and he **hadn't** just run off to get a rouse out of the family.

Derek desperately needed their help and they were ignoring him. At least Casey had the decency to sit in her room and cry for a moment.

Looking down at this watch, which surprisingly still told the correct time, Derek figured Casey was enjoying having the shower all to herself on a Monday right now. Derek had left the house after trying his hardest to take some frustration out on Casey, and had spent the entire night working his way towards Warwick with a deep feeling of apprehension in his stomach.

Derek stopped at an intersection and looked up from his feet to see the beginnings of 'downtown' before him. He took a moment before walking out into the street, not caring if anyone was coming or not.

The high school was the fist building he came to, and he considered passing for a moment, but finally decided that even if he didn't find anything out, it would be interesting to go inside and see their school.

Upon entering the front double doors, Derek could tell this was a much smaller school than SJST High. People were starting to mill about, early arrivers and the teachers that walked through the hallways before busloads of other teenagers came through the doors. The lockers were painted a deep red, as were all the doors and windowpanes in the classrooms, and Derek remembered that the Warwick County Mustangs wore red and gold.

The first girl to pass Derek was wearing a letterman's jacket that had pins for academics and theater, and Derek suddenly remembered that the last person he remembered seeing was wearing soccer pins. Making his way though the school, he searched for the gym and kept his eyes peeled for any other red and gold jackets.

Coming to a stop at the top of a set of stairs that led down to the gym, Derek grinned and looked at the team pictures that surrounded him on either side. Spying the four large soccer pictures, Derek started scanning them all for the guy he got into a fight with. Finding him in the varsity picture, Derek frowned when he noticed that the list of names that his hockey pictures had was missing from Warwick's. At least he recognized him enough to try and find him in the school.

Derek roamed the halls as they began to get louder and more crowded, eyeing the girls and grinning at the ones he remembered from the party. Students had piled in, making it hard for him to walk down the corridor until a bell rang and everyone started to head to each classroom. Just like at SJST High, some students turned immediately, while others continued talking as if they hadn't heard the warning bell at all. Eventually, Derek noticed that mostly everyone had retreated to their rooms, and he realized disappointedly that he hadn't found the varsity soccer player. Deciding it was worth a try, he stuck his head in each room down the hall, scanning the desks for a familiar face.

He was headed towards the front doors again, after an unsuccessful search of the main hallway, when Derek spotted three girls walking in late. Knowing that he had flirted with all of them at the party, and kissed at least the two on the right, Derek let them walk past him before turning to follow.

"Kristin," One of them said, the brunette that Derek wasn't sure he had kissed, to the girl on her immediate left. "I can't believe you're here."

"Yeah," The third one chimed in. "After the weekend you had?"

Derek knitted his brow for a quick second, wondering how anyone could have had a worse weekend than he had.

"Listen, Kyle's going to be fine," Kristin said. "I just... can't stop thinking about that fight."

Derek's ears perked and he made his way to stand beside Kristin when she stopped at a locker and began spinning the lock. "What fight?" He asked, expecting an answer. "My fight?"

"Well Kyle's home now," The first nameless girl started, leaning on the lockers next to Kristin's. "And it doesn't matter anymore. He's ok."

"Kind of," Kristin said through a dark pout. "He doesn't remember what happened to that other guy. The nurses kept asking him if he knew what his name was, but either he won't answer, or he doesn't know."

Derek didn't hear what the third girl started saying after Kristin told them about 'the other guy'. His eyes connected with the jacket she was wearing and noticed with a start that it had a soccer pin on it with three bars underneath it. Varsity soccer. Derek stepped behind her and looked at the last name before turning and running from the school. "Kyle Bainbridge," he repeated to himself as he pounded the front doors of the school open and darted out into the parking lot. His stomach did flips and all he could hear was his heart pounding in his ears as his eyes scanned the faceless buildings for one that looked like a hospital.

After almost three days of telling himself he was dead, hearing Kristin all but verify the fact left him panicked. Derek realized that his vision was starting to darken, and his eyes weren't recognizing anything he was looking frantically at, so before he could fall over, he threw himself on a concrete bench next to the doors. Holding his head in his hands, Derek tried to take deep breaths, but continually started to huff, eyes blurring and the world spinning. He was certain now that he was dead.

After a good fifteen minutes of wondering if a ghost could faint, Derek finally lifted his head out of his hands. It took a moment for his eyes to readjust, and his face felt hot while his heart continued to beat hard enough to give him a headache. With a deep swallow and one more swipe of his hand across his face, Derek got up and started walking slowly across the parking lot of the high school. The main road still stretched in front of him, and he decided with a foggy mind that he needed to find the hospital.

Derek walked up to the small blue sign that stood just feet away from the stoplight leading to the school and stared at the large white 'H' for several long moments. The small arrow indicated the hospital was straight ahead and, leaning over to the left, Derek's eyes focused on 'Warwick General'.

He had to see, had to know for himself.

Derek slowly walked into the hospital, finding himself scared stiff while he looked around at the people walking around. Though several pucks and sticks to the face and arms had led him to the Emergency Department, Derek had no idea how to find a dead, nameless body in a large county hospital like this one. Leaving his spot in front of the entrance after a delivery man in blue all but walked right through him, Derek walked to the front desk. The idea of asking the receptionist, Barbara, how to get to the morgue left him with a slight grin, and Derek decided to walk right around the desk and look at her papers.

A clipboard with several small pictures caught his attention, and he walked closer to see that it was labeled 'Missing Persons'. Derek scanned over the sheet and sighed, he wasn't there. Of course he wasn't there, his family hadn't even given him the chance to be a face on that clipboard. Disappointed as the adrenaline of finding the would-be lead slipped away from him, Derek continued to scan the desk, stepping back when Barbara slid her chair away from the computer to leave with an empty coffee cup in her hand. Fed up with looking without touching, Derek slammed his hands down on the desk and shoved all the papers and the keyboard onto the floor with an angry shout. All he wanted to do was find himself, but nothing was helping.

Derek stood and faced away from the desk until the stars of anger left his vision, and his breathing slowed again. Derek turned back around when Barbara walked back over to her perfectly organized desk and sat with her coffee, and stuck a sticky note on her computer screen. Derek glanced at it before turning to leave, but stopped mid-stride and ran back over to read it closer over Barbara's shoulder.

"J. Doe" Was scribbled across the top of the oversized Post-it note, with two columns. His eyes slid down the list of four males and two females, most with a circled D next to their name, and swallowed, knowing that it could only stand for 'deceased'. Pausing to close his eyes and calm himself, Derek reread the note, forcing himself to see all the words rather than just the condition. "Caucasian M, 18yr." Derek read, his heart leaping into his throat. "Sat, 11: critical (2-19)"

"Is that me?" He pointed to the list and looked down at Barbara. "I'm critical?" Derek wasn't entirely sure if he should be happy or nervous. What if this wasn't him? Rechecking the list and seeing that none of the four deceased matched him or the date he would have come in, Derek looked back down to the receptionist. "I think that's me! Where am I?"

The phone rang and she answered it, "Warwick General Hospital, this is Barbara, how many I help you?"

"By telling me where the fuck I am." Derek muttered, but darted away from the desk and down the first hall he came to.

Derek all but jogged through the hospital, noticing that all the signs on the doors read titles of administrators and coordinators instead of room numbers, and growled. Of course there weren't any rooms down here. He needed to find the elevators. Derek rounded a corner to a circular junction between hallways and noticed the bank of elevators over to his right. With a smile, Derek walked over and slid down to the ground, waiting for someone with the ability to come and push the 'up' button for him. It only took a few long moments of Derek catching his breath before a middle aged woman came to the elevators with a bundle of flowers.

Derek stood quickly and joined her in the lift before the doors closed, then looked at her bouquet. "Those are nice." He said dryly, looking at the flowers. "Glad you care enough to bring them to whoever's dying up there."

Not hearing the comment, the woman pushed the button for the fourth floor, and Derek groaned. "No- I need two! You want to go to two!" He said, squinting to read the words etched into the silver facing of the elevator next to the two. "Look- there's a gift shop on two, let's go there!"

The elevator whizzed past the second floor and Derek sighed, sliding down the side of the elevator until he was sitting in the corner with his elbows resting on his knees. This would probably be the longest elevator ride of his life. At the third floor, a stout man wearing the tell-tale white coat joined them with a small smile and pressed the fifth floor button. "Maternity?" Derek asked, and rolled his eyes. "You're going to the maternity ward without a gift?"

At the maternity ward, Derek sat alone in the elevator for a long moment before the elevator slid back down the building to the first floor to pick up another doctor who wanted to go to orthopedics on the third floor. Derek shook his head and extended his legs out, waiting as patiently as possible to get off at the second floor.

Fifteen minutes later, the button labeled "B", under the first floor lit up, and Derek waited as the elevator came down from the sixth and top floor all the way to the basement. "Creepy." He said as the doors opened, seeing that all the neutral decorations of the other floors were absent, stainless steel lining the halls. Two men with a gurney joined Derek, both wearing full scrubs and surgical caps.

"I can't believe the south service lift is down." One of them said, pressing the second floor button.

Derek let out a loud, and slightly maniacal laugh, standing up as his floor was finally chosen.

"I know," the other passenger said, looking down to a clipboard that lay on top of the gurney. "I just love bringing bodies down the public elevator."

His lip curled, but Derek forgot what the two orderlies had said when the doors opened, revealing yet another neutral colored circular elevator bank. Deciding to follow the gurney, Derek walked down the halls, all of his previous excitement and happiness leaving him as he realized he was going towards the critical care unit. "Critical care is so much better than the morgue." Derek muttered, walking past 2-01.

A shot of adrenaline ran through him as he realized the two men were on their way to pick up a body that hadn't made it out of the critical state, and they were headed towards his room. Derek sprinted past them down the long hallway, only slowing when the door numbers reached 16, just across from 17. Finally spotting 19, Derek stopped and placed his hands on the sign, making sure the numbers weren't lying to him before turning and seeing that the two morgue attendants were still following him. Panicked, Derek swiveled on his feet and ducked into his own room, forgetting that he would be the patient on the bed. Shaking, he poked his head out of the room and saw the gurney take a sharp turn into room 15, and he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

Suddenly, realization hit him and he turned back around to face the bed. Frail, silent, and alone, his body laid on the bed with every option of equipment attached to him. Derek had no idea what exactly every beep and blip and number meant, but it only took him a few seconds to decide he was dead with a heartbeat. A blue mask was connected to the tubes giving him air, and a ventilator sat to the right, telling his lungs when to breathe. IV poles sat on either side of the bed ran several types of fluids ran into the catheters sticking out of the backs of his hands.

"Great," Derek said from across the room, unwilling to go any closer. "I finally fucking find myself and I'm as good as dead anyway."

Hearing footsteps and voices in the hall, Derek backed up to the corner furthest away from his body and sat down on a metal chair, feeling as though he was intruding on his own hospital room.

"We have a John Doe here." One white-coat said to another as they entered the room, apparently rounding with him before a shift change. "Some kind of a fight this weekend. The other boy is a local here, and he claims that he doesn't know this one. He was released yesterday. But this one," The first doctor started, turning a monitor screen to face him more. "He was responsive when he got him in here, but it didn't last long and we just about lost him. Right now, he's just on supportive care. We think he's about 18, but you know the rule, can't release any information for 5 days. He's got until Friday before we go to the media, but I doubt he'll make it that far."

"And has there been any missing persons report matching him?" The second doctor asked.

"None, so far. No one from the party will 'fess up to knowing him."

"That's ridiculous, you know that?"

Derek stood up when the second doctor said this and rushed over to them. "Of course it's ridiculous! And what do you mean I won't make it that far?"

"I figure he'll be lucky if he's here for me to treat tomorrow night when I'm on again." The first doctor said with a shrug, and the two of them left the room, on to the next patient.

"This is unbelievable." He said, slowly walking up to himself. Dark circles lined his eyes, and his pale skin seemed two sizes too big for him. He knew that he was seriously injured, and definitely wouldn't make it though the day if he didn't do something. Standing there for a long moment, Derek let his eyes wander over his body a few more times, seeing the blue hospital bracelet that read a number instead of a name.

"Casey." He said, and turned on his heel. "I think Casey knew I was there." Derek said and started running from the room. He might have been fooling himself, but he knew that she was his only shot.

----------------

_Holy 12 page chapter. Wow. These 5000+ installments are... insane and completely out of character for me. ;-) PS, the stuff about hospital protocol for John Doe's is completely made up. All I know is that at my hospital, we keep 'em for 5 days before we make someone else come get them. although, we are very far away from a General hospital. so...run with me. Thanks!_

_I am incredibly excited to see that I have repeat reviewers! Thanks guys!_

_Ghostwriter: Thank! Glad to see you like the second chapter too._

_CloudXStrife: Sweet, that's awesome to hear. I'll be definitely updating at least once a week, I have to go over to my mom's place and shamelessly steal internet time. Thank you so much for the review!_

_Kallie Lynn: Thanks! As I've said, I don't so much recommend the movie. ;-) But I am incredibly happy that you're enjoying this so far, and I'll update as often as I can! God knows I just sit around here and write all day. Amazing what cutting the internet, phone and cable can do for ones fanfiction productivity... _

_Molly: This movie came out at a time when every move I had gone to see ended with NO ONE getting the girl in the end. In Good Company, Electra, The Butterfly Effect- No one was getting the girl! Needless to say, I can't do that. :-D Interested to hear that you like it- hope I'm doing it justice for you! _

_Laura Ferrari: Thanks so much! It's definitely a different genre for me, and I'm glad I'm getting some of the suspense to come through for you. _

_Ilovederekventuri91: I freaking love him too. I'm very happy to get your review- super glad to hear you like it! Hope you enjoyed the update!_

_VainConspiracy: Aw thanks so much! I'm happy that you think it's written well, I really hate it when something isn't very readable. I know it's not perfect, but I'm glad you reviewed with that! And I'm extra glad to hear it makes you happy! _

_Jayley: Ooh double review! Hah- thanks so much for them both! Nobody I know personally has liked it, but yanno. ;-) And I really don't think I could kill Derek... I could probably off anyone else, but not Derek. Lol. Thanks so much for the reviews! Two cookies for you!_

_Alrighty, I'm extra happy that you've all reviewed, and I hope this update goes over well!_


	4. Apprehensive and Scared

**Please see the very bottom of the review responses for an explanation of a scene in the previous chapter. And a little mini rant from fullxcircle…**

Alright then, it's been a while. I had every intention of getting this posted last week before I went out of town, but couldn't make it in time. Casey's part just wouldn't write like Derek's parts do. And speaking of which, I broke up a bunch of Casey's lengthy brooding with some Derek-filled flashbacks, which are in italics. Sorry if this seems wordy, I was struggling!

Enjoy

**Summary: **After having a serious accident Derek looms around the house unseen, learning things about his family he never expected. [Eventual Dasey

**Disclaimer: I own neither Life with Derek nor The Invisible. P.S., don't have any idea how the law system runs in Canada. **

**-------------------------------------**

The Invisible

_Apprehensive and Scared_

The first thing Casey did when she woke up on Monday was stuff her feet into her bunny slippers and shuffle her way towards Derek's room. She wasn't surprised in the least to see his room in the exact condition it had been in when she peered in on Friday night. Casey bit her lip to keep it from quivering as she entered the bathroom and quickly showered. She hadn't had to set her alarm early to get in the line first, she hadn't had to pound on any doors to be heard over music, and she hadn't had any kind of fight over any material thing in the house. In fact, she hadn't spoken one word since her discussion with her parents the previous night.

Just a week ago, she was fighting with her stepbrother over the bathroom, instead of standing in silence as she was today.

"_Casey, I get it, you got up early and got the bathroom first and now you're being a princess and taking your sweet time." Derek called through the door. Casey rolled her eyes at her reflection while she patiently removed the hot rollers from her hair. She hated it when he called her 'princess'. _

"_In case you forgotten, you're not the only one in the house!" Derek called angrily, and Casey laughed. She had said the _exact_ same thing to him just a few days ago when he was hoarding the bathroom. "I'm going to be late for practice!"_

_Casey ran the pick through her hair and sighed before turning and opening the door. "One," She started, standing in his way so that he couldn't get in the room. "I could only __**pray**__ that I was the only one in the house. Two, you're always late for practice, and have to take a shower at school afterwards. And _three_, now you know how _I_ feel!" She walked away from him then with a grin, letting him finally have the bathroom. _

What she wouldn't give to fight with Derek today. She knew the instant she walked into the school building there would be questions flying towards her from every angle. Questions about why Derek hadn't called so-and-so, questions about why Derek hadn't met up with who ever. Why wasn't Derek at his locker, why hadn't Derek driven to school, and what did Derek do to make Casey miserable this time?

Casey dried off and quickly dressed, then began dragging a thick-toothed pick through her long brown hair and silently talked herself out of skipping school. Derek missing a day would start a conversation, draw some attention, and lead to false stories, but Casey missing would only result in a call to her mom, and another fight. Besides, there was nothing Casey wanted to do more than get as far away from the lonely feeling in the McDonald-Venturi house.

With a sigh, Casey took her hairdryer out from under the sink to start on her hair. Over the past year, she had become quite good at getting ready in the least amount of time possible, so she wasn't surprised when she came down the stairs all set to go with almost a half an hour left before she had to leave. Everyone else was already in the kitchen, which was normal enough, but what made Casey stop short when she entered the room was the dead silence. George stared through the paper while he held a cup of coffee in his hand, Edwin and Lizzie both wrote a few final answers on their weekend homework and Nora stood with her mug of tea gazing out the window. Once every few seconds Marti's spoon 'clinked' against her bowl as she ate Derek's favorite cereal, but even the smallest child remained silent.

Regaining her composure, Casey continued into the kitchen and made her way straight to the pantry to grab a cereal bar. Feeling as though she would break her glass family if she let the cupboard swing shut and clap against the wood, she manually closed the door and quickly turned away from her family, no longer caring if she was early. It was perfectly normal for Casey to show up early to school, especially when she was having a problem with Derek, so she set out after stuffing her breakfast in her messenger bag.

School today was going to tear her apart. Casey was typically emotional in a normal circumstance, but with Derek missing for the third day and a severe lack of sleep, she was likely to start sobbing at the mention of anything at this point. She was certain that she'd leak the trauma that her family was going through by lunch. Casey bit her lip and watched her feet as she walked, the breakfast bar forgotten in her bag.

Whenever Casey or Derek had to walk to school instead of catching a ride, it took them twenty minutes to get to their respective lockers. Today, though, Casey managed to get there in almost fifteen after speeding up substantially to keep her mind from running. The building was still silent, but luckily unlocked, and Casey's stomach dropped when she realized that the doors were opened early in the fall for morning hockey practice. The last thing she needed was for the coach to find her and start hounding her about where her idiot stepbrother was.

It wasn't uncommon for Derek to sleep through practice, and it wouldn't be the first time that Coach Fellers searched her out. In fact, just four days ago, on Thursday, he had found her at her locker and asked about Derek. 

"_McDonald." _

_Casey flinched and tore her eyes away from her latest study guide for math class when she heard her last name ground out. Only Derek and gym teachers used her last name in the same manner as a curse word. Turning, she tried a smile out on Coach Fellers. "Hi Coach."_

"_Venturi wasn't at practice today." The question wasn't voiced, but Casey knew what it was. _

_As easy as it would be for her to just smile and say, 'Derek wasn't awake when I left for school this morning, he's probably sitting down to Ellen with his fruit loops about now.' Casey just couldn't do it. She wanted, desperately, to get Derek in trouble, but just couldn't bring herself to think of what he'd do back to her. _

_So instead of ratting him out as the lazy self-seving jerk that he was, Casey sighed and answered, "I left before he did, but I don't think he was feeling well today. I'll bet his dad called him in after first bell, so you didn't get the notice in time."_

_Never once had Coach Fellers ever said anything else, he always just huffed after she gave him some new rendition of the same answer and stomped off. Casey felt as if he was _certain_ hockey was the most important thing in the world. _

"_Just like Derek," she muttered and looked back down to her outline._

It took almost forty minutes of silent studying in the library by herself before she finally heard the hallways starting to fill. It took her quite a while to win an argument of whether or not she should try to walk the hallways or stay hidden until the bell rang. Deciding that it'd be less noticeable that Derek wasn't there if she wasn't, she sat staring at her phone until the warning bell rang. She jotted a small note in her planner that the bell was two and a half minutes slow and took her time repacking her bag and heading to class.

She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but she was shocked to see that everything going on in the hallways seemed completely normal. Sam and Ralph were playing football, completely used to Derek both missing practice and the first bell. Emily was down the hallway at their locker searching for something, probably the homework that was due today, with Sheldon waiting patiently behind her. Principal Lassiter walked the halls as if he had all the authority in the world with Tinker following closely, and Kendra and her clique chatted and applied lip gloss with no intention of going to class. Just like every other Monday at SJST High.

No one took time out of their normal routine to stare at Casey, no one took pity, no one started whispering. There was no reason to yet.

She finally managed to uncross her arms, pick her head up and stand straight as she approached Emily and Sheldon.

"Bye, Sheldon," Emily said, giving him a kiss before turning to her best friend. "Morning Casey!" She chirped, finally finding the shredded assignment that was due in less than 3 minutes.

"Morning," Casey answered, trying her hardest to warm her expression enough to feel her eyes brighten.

"I didn't hear a thing from you since Saturday. I take it family stuff occupied the weekend?"

Casey never noticed how loud and quickly her best friend talked. She assumed she was exactly the same. "You could say that again." She answered and hugged her books to her chest as they started towards class. Turning into their first class, Casey sighed and swallowed hard before asking, "How was your weekend?"

Emily didn't answer until they were in their seats in the classroom a moment later, and turned her whole body towards Casey to answer. "It was good. Sheldon and I went to see a movie, and he took me to the ice cream parlor afterwards. It was the first time I've ever let anyone talk me into eating ice cream while it was so cold out."

Casey forced herself to smile, and blinked twice quickly to get the tears over Sheldon being so sweet to go away. "That's great, Em." She started, and turned to dig in her bag for a pen so Emily couldn't see her chin quiver. Not long after, the teacher started his lecture and Casey threw herself into Canadian history instead of her dilemma.

Casey's attention didn't falter until just a few minutes before the bell would ring. She very suddenly got cold enough to send goose bumps down her arms and ball her hands into fists. She set down her pen and clasped both hands together, glancing up to the vents wondering if anyone else had just gotten cold. Everyone seemed to be paying attention still, so she picked up her pen and stuck her free hand in between her knees to warm it.

"You _can_ hear me!" Unbeknownst to Casey, Derek had been standing inches away from her shouting for several minutes now. He had grabbed onto her shoulders and shaken her almost violently right before she got cold. "Casey, you have to help me." He reasoned, after having yelled and screamed at her from all over the room already. "You can totally tell I'm here, and I'm kind of running out of time out there." He crouched down next to her desk, between her and Emily, and looked up to her expectantly.

Casey only continued taking notes. "What the hell do I have to do?" Derek asked meekly.

A shot of adrenaline ran through him when Casey turned and almost stared right at him, but he realized shortly afterwards that she was only looking down at her bag. He moved out of the way, letting her pick up her bag and neatly place the notebooks and supplies back in their spots. Derek looked up towards the front of the classroom when the bell rang, and watched everyone start to mill out of the room. This was a lot harder than he thought it would be.

A small portion of Derek's brain still felt weird walking next to his stepsister at school after having spent so long avoiding her, but he stuck to her side as she left the classroom and waited just to the side of the door for Emily to catch up.

"So," Emily started, completely oblivious to Derek walking step for step with them. "If I knew I'd be learning all about the war with America in Canadian history, I'd have taken _that_ class. Then I could be with Sheldon."

Casey almost completely ignored the comment, but managed to reply a few seconds later, "You weren't with Sheldon at registration."

Emily smiled, obviously not affected by Casey's attitude and continued on. "I know. But that doesn't change the fact that our class is ridiculous." Casey shrugged, still hugging her books as she watched her feet take her to period two. "What's up, Case? Getting sick?" Emily stepped closer and wrapped both hands around the upper half of Casey's arm as the walked. "Not enough sleep? Did Der-"

"Yeah-" Casey answered as fast as she could to block Emily's next question. "I didn't sleep well... And I don't feel very good on top of that."

Emily accepted the answer with a nod, even though she knew that wasn't the whole story. She knew that Casey jumped on the pathetic train when she was sick, wearing sweats and stuffing tissues up her sleeve. Her outfit today, a pair of fitted jeans and a brown tee, told the whole school that Casey was in no mood to draw attention to herself. Emily sighed and led Casey into their classroom and to their seats before letting go of her best friend. Something was absolutely off today and it worried Emily.

"Alright, guys," Senora Sanchez said and picked up teacher's edition of the Spanish text, unaware that Derek was sitting just next to it on the corner of the desk. "Please turn to the unit introduction on page 162 and read to your selves. Then read the practices sentences with your partners."

Derek watched as Casey threw a sideways glance to where he was supposed to sit, and saw his usual partner, Sam, decide to partner up with Ralph instead.

"Replaceable," Derek muttered, sliding off of the desk and walking across the room to his desk. He sat on top of it and kept his hard gaze on Casey.

Emily noticed the change in partners as well as Casey's glance, and finally decided to ask what the whole school had been wondering today. "Casey," She said, in a low tone so that their teacher wouldn't hear that they weren't speaking Spanish. "Where's Derek today?"

Casey's eyes snapped over to Emily's and she let out a big sigh before looking down to her text. "I don't know."

Unfortunately, Sam had heard both the question and the answer, and turned towards the two girls in front of him. "Yeah," He started, slightly moving his desk closer to hers. "It's not like him to miss this much without writing and telling me that he's in bed instead of school."

Ralph joined in, no one noticing the look of dread in Casey's eyes, "What'd he do? T.P. Lassiter's house and get thrown in jail? He was supposed to wait for us!" The two boys laughed and bumped fists.

Derek sat on his desk with his arms crossed, staring at Casey intently. He knew for a fact that she was on the verge of tears, recognizing the glassy look of her eyes before even Emily. They were now hounding her, throwing out all the different scenarios that ended with Derek either in jail or at boot camp.

Making his way over to her, Derek placed one hand on her desk and the other behind her on the seat, then leaned over to whisper in her ear. "Listen to me." He said slowly and pulled back slightly when she started, and gasped.

"I have to go." Casey said, leaving the room with her bag, not bothering to get her text book off of her desk.

"Casey!" The teacher called after her, but she just kept going, her white flip flops slapping against her heels the only sound she could hear.

"Case," Derek said quietly from where he was still standing next to her desk. He turned away from staring at the classroom door and looked down at the three students, his three friends.

"Man what's up her skirt?" Ralph asked, keeping his tone hushed to keep Senora Sanchez from looking at the group.

Emily rolled her eyes as she leaned forward and grabbed Casey's book off of the now empty desk. "She's not wearing a skirt, Ralph." She said in an annoyed tone and placed the text book in her own bag. "Something is really wrong with her today."

"Do you really think it was Derek this time?" Sam asked, peering at Emily from under his ski cap. "She's really not acting like he just stole the shower from her today."

Derek sighed and slid into Casey's vacant seat, forgetting that he had made it his mission to get Casey to realize that he was there. Finding out what his friends really thought of his relationship with his stepsister was suddenly more important.

"No." Emily said, and leaned closer to the desk when she caught sight of Senora Sanchez making their way towards them.

"Get back on track, you three." She scolded and stood close to them for a few minutes to make sure they were reading from the text.

"Although the present tense of '_cambiar'_ is conjugated with '-ar', the future tense is different because..." Derek grinned as Emily trailed off, watching the teacher leave the area. "She can't keep herself focused on anything for more than three seconds today. And I think she was going to cry before school."

"Well Derek's made her cry before." Sam defended, and Derek scoffed.

"Don't make it sound like I do it everyday, on purpose." Derek said, leaning back in the desk with a frown. "Ok, so I do. But still..."

"Well, she asked me Saturday if I had seen him and that's all she said all weekend. I at _least_ get the 'guess what he did now' speech once or twice before Monday."

"Yeah, ya know, Derek's dad called me on Saturday too and asked me that. I figured Derek just took off with the car and didn't come back in time or something. Did you hear anything on Sunday?"

Derek shook his head at the three of them and stood up to leave them. Because he wanted to sit back and find out that he made Casey cry regularly, and that no one was surprised that he was gone, he had an entire school to search for Casey.

Seeing the hallway with her locker empty, Derek frowned and turned towards the counselor's office. No one was in there either, but Casey's favorite advisor was racking up a pretty admirable high score in online Asteroids. After checking the two girl's bathrooms on the first floor and finding them empty, Derek blew out a breath in aggravation and turned to make his way back to her locker. He made sure that Casey hadn't gone back to class on the way, and found himself standing in front of her closed locker alone.

"Where the hell did she go?" He asked himself quietly, and turned to lean on the locker and look down each direction of the hallway.

A long moment passed before he saw her dart in and out of his sight at the farthest end of the hallway, just outside the main office. Derek grinned and took off down the hallway at a run to catch up with her before he lost her. She was about to turn down another hallway by the time he got to the office, and just before she went around the corner, Derek came to a halt and yelled, "Casey!"

Casey turned with a gasp forceful enough to squeak at the end. Her hair whipped around her face and her grip on the books she hugged faltered and they fell to the floor loudly. Casey stood silently, her cheeks red and her eyes wide, scanning the hallway. She knew she heard Derek- there was no other voice in the world that she was listening for today, and she _knew _that it was him that just called for her.

Finding no one in the halls, Casey let out a small sob, and bent to pick up her books with shaking hands. It was then that she realized her Spanish book was still sitting back in her classroom. She took a full ten seconds to debate with herself, but finally decided on leaving it. If Emily didn't take it back to the locker, then Senora Sanchez would keep it for her.

Using both hands to slap the front doors to the school open, Casey walked out quickly, only slowing when she crossed the street and was safely on the sidewalk across from the building. She started breathing hard and let her bag slip from her shoulder to hanging off her elbow as she walked an uneven path towards her house. It was several blocks and right now she just didn't feel like she could make it. The bag hit the ground with a light thud, and Casey ignored the two pens that rolled out as she bent and set her books down as well. She put her hands on top of her head and walked in a slow circle, as if she had just run a marathon.

"_Casey!"_

The sound echoed in her head, and though she knew she was making it up this time, the crispness of it, the realness of it, still kept her heart up in her throat and her eyes scanning all around her wildly.

"It's ok." She told her self, swallowing hard to keep from crying. "It's going to be alright." She stopped and stood on the sidewalk with her hands on her hips. If anyone was watching from the houses she was standing in front of, they would surely think she was insane.

"Ok, Casey." She told her self, bending very slowly to pick up all of her belongings. "Ok." Casey set her jaw and took a moment to compose herself before starting to walk again. Home was close, and she would have to wait to have a panic attack until she was safe inside her own walls.

Derek knew that his arm around Casey as she walked wasn't helping her at all. If anything, it was probably making her feel apprehensive and scared like his touch had before. Derek didn't care. He felt like if he had his hands on her she'd make it home, because right now it seemed like she was going to pass out before she even left sight of the school zone. "Come on Case," He urged. "If you're going to ditch class you're going to have to make it home before you punk out."

Casey tried to ignore the dizziness that settled on top of her and concentrated on the feeling that Derek was following her home. She turned twice to see if he was about to kick her heels between her steps to get her to stumble, and by the time she got home she was almost completely calm again.

The rising panic that nestled itself in the bottom of her stomach on Saturday afternoon still threatened to make her sick, but she was once again back to silently thinking to herself as she walked through the silent house towards her room.

"Sweet," Derek said, rubbing his hands together, watching her go up the stairs from the living room. "I guess if you're going to ignore me and let me continue to die, I'm going to spy on you and see what you do when no one's home."

Figuring she'd go upstairs, change into pajamas and lay down to read, Derek followed her anyways. Maybe she could come up with something saucy for him to enjoy before he died.

-----------------------

Keeping true to his words to his stepdaughter, George called Nora to make sure no one had heard from Derek before turning out his desk lamp and leaving his office for the night. Stopping outside of his boss's office, George pulled out the pre-typed memo briefly outlining the details of his situation, and explaining that he wouldn't be in to work for the next few days and slipped it in the 'in' box. This was possibly the longest day he had ever been forced to live through, including the time Edwin fell asleep in the garage on top of the minivan when he was 3 and couldn't be found for several hours.

George parked his car in the front of the police station and sighed. He was almost excited to be able to do something about his missing son, but at the same time he still felt like this was all just a bad dream, or an even worse prank. Checking his voicemail for the fourth time that day and calling Derek's unavailable cell phone just once more, George finally took his keys from the ignition and left his car behind.

Inside the station, a Detective Spencer looked up from his paperwork as his receptionist led George Venturi to the empty chair at his desk. "Mr. Venturi," he greeted and stood up to shake his hand. The detective took in George's appearance and sighed, he was living every parent's worst nightmare. Being a parent to three himself, Bret Spencer was anxious to get started on the case.

"Detective," George greeted back, accepting the hand extended towards him before sitting in the thinly covered seat and looking around. The station wasn't what he was expecting. The interior was almost warming, a dark shade of tan covered all the drywall and wooden trim outlined each wall, window, and doorway. Desks were clumped in the main area, each baring a computer and personal effects. "I'm afraid there's still been no word from my son." George said absently, his eyes locked on a missing persons board on the far wall, plastered with posters showing the faces of men and women of all ages.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Venturi." Spencer said, and George felt it was sincere. "Now is when we take action. I've created the alert and only need confirmation from you to post it. Then we'll need to discuss what you're ready to do about searches, media, and... the worst case scenario."

George sighed and wished he had opted to bring Nora with him. Right now, all he could think about was Derek's face becoming another "have you seen me?" poster on the back of the TV guide. "I want to put the alert out. And can we do one for his car too?" George asked, pulling a sheet with the vehicle information out of his briefcase.

"Of course." Det. Spencer took the sheet and scanned it before setting it down on top of a small stack of papers pertaining to the Venturi boy. "I'll have the alert running across the news today, and I'll make sure Toronto is involved as well."

Half an hour later, George walked back out to his car with his head full of empty reassurances from Detective Spencer and a firm grip on a few papers that had been handed to him. The ride home was short, and before he knew it, the car was in the garage and he was about to face his family.

-------------------------

_There she be. Not as long as the last chapter, but what can I say? Unfortunately, Casey has another part at the beginning of the next chapter that I'll have to kick myself to get through, but there'll be more Casey/Phantom Derek interaction so it'll read/write faster and easier. _

_Princetongirl: Thanks for the review! Sorry it took so long, I'm hoping to get the next chapter out much quicker. _

_Sunybee: Aww thanks! All your hopes are very similar to mine :-). Stay tuned to see if they come true! (Oh please, what am I saying 'if'??Lol)_

_CloudXStrife: I'm totally sorry you had to wait! Thanks for being patient with me, I promise the next chapter will be quicker!_

_Victoria Alexandra: Update accomplished! Thanks much for the review!_

_Sudmoonlight: sigh thanks so much. I hope this one was worth it too. I'm not as confident in this chapter as I was the last but hey, every book and every movie has a boring section, right? And don't worry, I decided in the beginning that we're not going down the same suck-path that the movie went. I'd have to kick my__**self**__ if I did that. Anyway, thanks so much for the review, and thanks for the PM as well. Your patience is amazing!_

_Unsigned Review: This review was about the hospital care issue. After I posted the chapter, I did some research on the matter. Though I love working in a hospital where my patients don't talk back, the rest of my entire family works in emergency/critical care. Hospitals, as far as the ones my family work in, will treat to the best of their ability, but spending the least amount of money possible. They would be more willing to treat Derek, as a young person, but would still opt to not go beyond supportive care until they knew they'd get a payment. _

_This story's issue has nothing to do with the ability to pay, and everything to do with the fact that Derek is a no-name to them. This is NOT why "all immigrants and wastes of life on welfare" get treated. And that is NOT how it works in the US. Please, I beg you, to change your opinion, and research your facts, as this was slightly offensive. I happen to have grown up on welfare and had to take a long moment to not take this review personally. _

_Anyhow, I changed the last chapter only slightly. I left the medical director out, to avoid that nine chapters of legal junk, and I threw some fluids at Derek- basically to keep him alive until Casey can listen to him. No major revamps, just a minor change. Derek's still on his way out the back door._


	5. Arguing and Waiting

**Note about me sucking at the end.**

**Summary: **After having a serious accident Derek looms around the house unseen, learning things about his family he never expected. Eventual Dasey

**Disclaimer: I own neither Life with Derek nor The Invisible.**

**--**

The Invisible

_Arguing and Waiting_

Casey almost regretted skipping school. At school, she was around hoards of students, and the fact that she _had_ to hide what she was useful as a shield against thinking about it. Now at home, she was left alone with no one and nothing to distract her from the movie-like tragedy that had taken hold on her family. She sat in her room with the radio playing quietly enough that she couldn't understand every word, finding that with the volume up she strained to listen for any news bulletin about missing boys.

She was driving herself even more insane than the weekend had rendered her.

A deep, uncomfortable feeling in her stomach kept her from relaxing or distracting herself. It was similar to the feeling she got when she was out of her comfort zone; before a recital, when wearing something out of character in school, hanging around kids that intimidated her. It was annoying, and Casey was angry that no matter what she did, she couldn't get it to go away.

Casey had no idea that the feeling was all thanks to Derek. He talked to her while she meandered around her room, pretending she was listening as he chastised her for her organization, teased her for her grades, asked her endless unanswered questions about how she felt about him, and begged and pleaded with her to just listen. She didn't hear a word he said to her, and as far as he could tell she was completely unaware he was there.

A tone cut through the room distracting the both of them, and with a slight grimace, Casey dug it out of her messenger bag and read a text from Emily. _'Did you leave? Are you sick?'_

Derek got up to go read the message over her shoulder and grinned before muttering in her ear. "You're really throwing off Emily's 'keep-tabs-on-everyone-and-everything' groove here, Case."

Casey brought up the empty screen to write back to her best friend and stood with her thumbs poised to write, thinking of a response. Everything from the entire truth to and excuse about being ill to _'Don't worry about it'_ came to mind to respond with, but nothing seemed like what Casey wanted to say.

Derek couldn't resist getting closer, and rested his chin on Casey's shoulder while he watched her stare at the phone. "What? Is Casey speechless?" He teased quietly, close to her ear.

Casey gasped slightly and took a step forward before turning and examining her room to find nothing changed, and nothing out of place. She sighed and placed the phone on her desk, angry that she felt so out of place and scared in her own room. Grabbing a large hairbrush from where it sat in its place by her mirror, she started to pace her room.

Derek hated that while he was trying to comfort her he only made her feel uneasy, so with a pout and a frown, he made his way back to her bed and sat, caught between beating his head against the wall or laughing openly at his step-sister as she reasoned with herself. "I can_not_ hear Derek. I only _think _I can hear him because he's always bothering me," she explained aloud, walking with her brush in hand. "His voice must be etched into my brain after all the times he's yelled at me."

"Hey," Derek sat up, hearing her say this and ignored the whisper of guilt that shot through him. "I don't always _just_ yell at you." Leaning forward to prop himself up on his bent knees, he watched her closely as he talked, knowing she wouldn't hear. "We do plenty of _talking_... conspiring... nagging, chatting, laughing. Besides, you yell at _me_ way more."

Casey stopped pacing and held the brush at her side, turning to stare at the wall separating their rooms. "I wouldn't be surprised if I started hearing his crummy music through the walls any moment now."

Derek's fingers itched to turn up her radio when she said that, but he knew his attempt would fail. "My music rocks, it's not my fault all you listen to is crappy chick rock."

Casey sighed and tossed the brush towards the bed, not seeing that it nearly hit Derek in the knee, and walked to her desk. Derek settled after dodging the brush, and watched her stand behind her desk with her hands on the back of her chair.

"I have no homework." She said absently to herself, her voice quiet and distant. "Can't call Emily," she leaned slightly forward and placed her hand on her biology text book, running her fingers over the cover. "Don't want to study." Derek chuckled at this, but passed up the opportunity to snark about it, watching her take the chair to the middle of the room. Setting it to face the bed instead of the door, Casey sat down and pulled her legs up, Indian style.

"What is this?" Derek asked, getting off the bed and moving to stand in front of her. "You're just sitting in the chair in the middle of the room... doing nothing." He didn't know that this was Casey's only comfortable spot right now, because all other options had been extinguished. Anywhere outside her bedroom was off limits, the house was empty, but she couldn't handle seeing Derek's things knowing that he might never get to use them again. Laying, or even sitting on the bed was not a good idea, because in her state of exhaustion she'd fall asleep instantly, and her dreams were laced with Derek; memories, what-if's... all of it leaving her scared and restless.

He spent the entire night with Casey, up until George walked into the house and called a family meeting. "The alert will be up on the news tonight," he explained, and Derek noticed his dad's wrinkles for the first time. "And all the hospitals in London and Toronto will be notified."

"Lovely," Derek snapped when he heard this. "Seeming as how I'm in Warwick right now."

Presently, however, George and Nora were intercepting all the attention the family was receiving after the alert had hit the news while the kids sat in the kitchen with the doors shut.

Derek couldn't help but feel sorry for his family that Monday night. It was as if their entire world had been put on 'pause' when he walked out on Friday, leaving them in a constant loop of worrying, arguing and waiting. But the moment George shook Detective Spencer's hand at the station, the McDonald-Venturi world started again, fast forwarding into a mess of media, phone calls, and questions.

Sighing as Casey ignored yet another call on her cell phone that night, Derek moved from where he was leaning against the pantry and sat in his normal spot at the island. The kids had all been left to find their own food while their parents dealt with phone calls and visitors, so Edwin and Lizzy warmed up frozen pizza, Casey opted for oatmeal with honey, and Marti mixed the two and ate it without flatware.

"Casey, you've got to get this crap in motion." Derek said, putting his elbows on the table and leaning forward to give her his full attention. "Actually," he started over, glancing over at his little sister. "You need to get that away from Marti." He watched as she lapped up a pepperoni with oatmeal on it and almost gagged.

Nora walked into the room then, leaving George on duty for a moment. "Kids, I'm so sorry about dinner," she said breathlessly as she rushed towards the refrigerator, not noticing that they didn't look up from where they were all staring blankly at their food. She rushed back out a moment later with an apple and a bottle of water, after dropping a kiss on each child's head. "Hopefully Abby will be here tomorrow and we can get more organized." Nora pasted a small, unsure smile on her face and left the room, sliding the doors shut behind her.

Derek realized with a start that his mother probably hadn't know that he was gone this entire time. He had to purse his lips together then to keep himself in check, remembering the last time he talked to his mother right before she went to Spain. Derek allowed himself to entertain the idea that if he had just gone to Spain, he wouldn't be mostly dead and talking to deaf ears right now.

Casey sat up and sighed, keeping her eyes on her oatmeal bowl as she spoke to the others in the room, "I'm going up to my room." She said to them, her tone flat and sad. Derek had heard this tone several times before, and just like now, it was typically after he had done something to destroy her mood. "Come get me if you need me."

Placing her bowl in the sink without cleaning it, Casey snuck into the living room and made her way upstairs without being noticed by her parents or principal Lassiter, who was the guest of the moment. Unbeknownst to her, Derek was hot on her heels. "Just go into my room, Casey." He told her, watching his feet as he climbed the stairs behind her. "You know you've always wanted to snoop, and there's just no time like the present."

The two of them made it to the top of the stairs, and after rolling his eyes at her almost robotic movements towards her bedroom, Derek's patience expired and he shoved Casey. She stumbled forwards a few steps, and Derek's jaw dropped when she put her hand out to use the wall to steady herself. How many times had he shook, hit, shoved or touched Casey without her noticing over the past weekend? And _now_, now she finally gets the point?

Casey's head flung around after she regained her balance with a look of disgust, and Derek was so sure that she was about to screech his name that he could already hear it echoing in his head. "Yeah," he told her, nodding his head with a near-sadistic grin. "I shoved you, get the freaking point, Casey!"

Derek watched as her eyes quickly changed from angry and accusing to confused, and finally startled. Her face blanched and she looked around the hallway wildly, knowing that this time it wasn't a 'klutz' move, she had felt a pressure on her back and she was _pushed_ forward. She finally realized that in reaching out for something stable, she had gripped Derek's doorframe instead of her own, and he watched as she forgot about the mysterious shove and another idea entered her head.

Relief flooded his body as she turned completely towards his door, running a finger across his 'do not enter' signs. "No," she breathed to herself, shaking her head and turning away from his room. She took a step towards her own bedroom, and Derek panicked, throwing himself to stand in her way.

"Just go in, Casey!" He shouted, the butterflies of hope dissipating into fear and anger. "You have never _ever_ paid any attention to that sign before, and you _can't_ start now."

Casey stood with her back to Derek's door, and almost as if she had heard him and taken what he said into consideration, she bit her lip and threw a glance to the stairs. "Okay," she whispered, and didn't hear Derek thank her before she turned and opened the door without thinking about it.

This was the third time she had stood in the doorway since Derek left. But this time, she wasn't looking to see if she was dreaming, she wasn't expecting him to be sleeping in his bed in those green pajamas that he loved so much. This time, she was in search of something, _anything _that would tell her what had happened on Friday night.

Derek walked over to his computer instantly. He could only hope that she would snoop there, and he just had to pray that _somehow_ the email he attempted to delete had been saved. "Casey," Derek started, standing behind his computer chair, snapping with both hands and pointing down to the seat. "You need to do some computer work."

Casey didn't hear him, only continued eyeing the room after she silently stepped inside and shut the door behind her. "Oh come on," Derek rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips impatiently. "You've been in here before, nothing's different."

Seemingly snapping out of her fright-induced haze, Casey eyed his phone charger plugged in right next to his night stand, and made her way over to it, searching for his phone. After picking up the cord and pulling it until she found the plug under his pillow, sans phone, she blew out a breath and sat down carefully on his bed. As many times as she had been in here to either yell or conspire with him, Casey had never actually had enough guts to snoop around in his things. But she couldn't help it now, the way the 'search' for Derek was headed, it felt to Casey like some people had already decided that the oldest child in the McDonald-Venturi house was dead.

The thought shot a chill through her body, and Casey rubbed her arms to get rid of the goose bumps that rose on her skin. "It's not possible." Casey told herself, straightening her back and setting her jaw.

"What's not possible?" Derek asked after some hesitation.

"Derek can't die. He'll never die, he will always be around to make my life a disaster." Derek smirked at her whispered logistics. "We should have started looking sooner."

"I'd say," he agreed, patting the computer chair again, "Now... come over here and snoop through my email."

Casey grumbled and stood suddenly. "We should have started sooner." She repeated, and looked around the room once more. She was about to walk back out before she made herself cry, but she caught sight of the little green light on Derek's computer stack out of the corner of her eye. "The computers on," She muttered to herself, and bit her lip once again.

"Yes!" Derek all but shouted, and clapped his hands together. "The computer is on! Now stop being thick-skulled and come over here, Casey."

Casey gasped slightly and she closed her eyes as if she had just gotten dizzy. That annoying, anxious feeling of being watched had been with her ever since her breakdown at school, but once again, she felt as if she could hear Derek saying her name. She knew the room was silent, nothing audible had actually taken place, but the echo of his voice in her head did not seem like a memory. It sounded like Derek Venturi was in her head.

"Yes! There! You can tell I'm here again! Please, Case, just come look at the computer, there _has_ to be something there."

Casey hesitantly walked over to the desk and wiggled the mouse to see if the computer was actually on, jumping back slightly when the screen brightened. Her eyes widened at his background, and she sunk into his chair with tears filling her eyes. Derek swallowed the embarrassment he felt at Casey seeing his background pictures, but knew there was nothing he could do about it now.

"Oh Derek, why do you have to be such a jerk?" Casey muttered to the screen, running her finger lightly over the flat screen. "No one would ever know that you're capable of..." She smiled faintly at the pictures, several placed together in a collage, all bearing one or all of the Venturi-McDonald family members. Casey blew out a breath and returned her hand to her lap. "Caring."

"That's real sweet, Case." Derek murmured to her, patience dwindling. "And embarrassing, but I really need you to shut up and snoop through my stuff."

Casey sighed for a final time before lifting her hands to the surface of the desk, and leaned forward as she navigated through his system. She wasn't the most computer savvy person in the house (that was definitely Derek himself) but she knew how to get around well enough to pull up Derek's history of websites visited.

"So you are a little computer-geek-hacker." Derek said with a grin, leaning over his step-sisters shoulder to watch the screen through his hair. "Not that I mind at this moment in time."

Derek watched for a few moments as she did everything that he would personally do to _her_ computer when he was looking for something incriminating. Turning his head slightly to look at her from where he was hovering behind her, Derek noticed just how tired and defeated she looked. Blowing out a breath, he stood and walked to the other side of the room.

"God, Case," He murmured, sitting down on his bed and running his hands through his hair. "This is _not_ something that normally happens. You _have_ to find something about where I went. Jesus, Case- if I could just tell you."

"Why do you have to delete everything?" Casey muttered, frowning as she came up empty handed.

"I blame Edwin, personally." Derek answered her, not caring that she couldn't hear a word.

"If Edwin wasn't such a sneak and didn't go through everyone's stuff, something would be here, and I could find you."

"I obviously agree completely." Derek said, leaning back on his elbows on his bed. "You just have to keep looking. There _has _to be something there. You'll never find me if there isn't something left on there."

"Why were you looking up driving directions?" She muttered, leaning forward and staring at the screen.

Derek perked, standing up instantly to cross the room and lean over her once again. "Yes- yes, Case- you're so close."

"And why did you delete the last address?" Casey chewed her bottom lip and placed the cursor on the 'final destination' blank, wishing desperately for the screen to magically change to whatever Derek was looking up. The recently visited column held a theater in Toronto, a few hockey rinks and the Playboy Mansion. Casey rolled her eyes before sliding her hands off the top of the desk and into her lap. "This is pointless." She muttered and stood up.

Derek groaned and watched her as she made a quick trip out of his room and into her own. He stood and followed her, disappointed in himself for deleting everything the _one_ time something needed to be found, and disappointed in Casey for not being able to find a non-existent clue.

Derek entered Casey's room just as she pulled her flannel button up over her shoulders, and watched as she crossed the room to switch off the light before crawling under the quilt on her bed. Derek crossed his arms and watched her get comfortable for several seconds before smirking and taunting. "Oh come on, Case, it's only 7:30. You _can't _be going to bed."

"I don't care," Casey mumbled without thinking twice about what she was saying, burying her had as she willed herself to fall asleep as fast as possible. "I'm tired."

Derek, shell-shocked, dropped his arms. Casey had not only heard him, she had responded. "What?" He asked, crossing the room to quickly kneel in front of her bed. "You heard me?"

Casey merely readjusted a bit started to give in to exhaustion. "Casey, can you hear me?" Derek ignored the panic that seeped through in his questions, and tried as hard as he could to shake his step sister. Knowing that she wasn't entirely asleep, he watched her face closely for a reaction, but saw none. "Case- _Warwick-_ you have to look in Warwick. I'm dying there. Please Case, tonight."

At her lack of reaction, Derek grimaced and pushed himself up off of his knees before leaving the room. Disappoint was once again painted on his face as he trudged down the stairs, the feeling outweighing the shock of having her answer him. "She's just gonna give up on me too." He said, aware of the pout in his voice as he talked to no one. "This blows." Derek leaned on the bottom banister of the house's stairs and sighed as his eyes followed the commotion in the living room.

The main floor was like entering a different world entirely after having spending time up with Casey. Upstairs, the air was still, things were quiet, lonely and dark, since all the kids were already in their rooms for the night. The living room, however, was hectic, unorganized, and noisy. Guest after quest knocked on the door, and although Nora was graciously accepting whatever encouragement or food was offered, she politely turned all company away. Between trips to the door for whomever came to visit, Nora rushed back to the coffee table to answer the phone.

Derek blew out a breath and shoved his hands in his pockets. This was utter chaos, and Nora was going at it alone.

"Sorry to hear the news."

"What a good boy,"

"We'll pull through this."

"Anything we can do?"

We're always here for you."

"You're in our thoughts."

Derek was both offended and exhausted just from watching his stepmother field messages from people who were basically strangers, and he was _invisible_, he didn't even have to respond.

"Okay," Nora finally muttered to herself after hanging up with someone named Kara, whom Derek was sure he'd never met. "We're finished."

Derek finally pushed himself to go watch over Nora's shoulder from behind the couch as she scrawled a note on the back of a grocery list. He snorted condescendingly as he read the note. "_Guests- Thank you so much for keeping us and Derek in your thoughts. We appreciate your support and consideration. But right now we need to spend some time together, and ask you to come by another time. We will call everyone with any news. –Venturi-McDonald family."_

"Time together?" Derek mocked, rolling his eyes. "What a concept. Every single person in this house is alone, including you. When was the last time you even checked on the kids?" Derek's eyes slid around the room as Nora shut off all the phones, dimmed the lights and finally hung the note on the outside of the front door. His anger was misplaced and he knew it, but failed to care.

Nora sat down heavily with a sigh and Derek moved from his spot in the middle of the living room to look for his dad. Things were getting _way_ out of hand.

Casey had just very contentedly felt herself get heavier on her mattress and waited happily to melt away completely when she sensed a light on in her room. Growling at what she assumed would be Marti or Lizzie opening her door, Casey found that the culprit was her cell phone, sitting on her nightstand on silent.

"God, even on silent the thing annoys me." Casey grumbled, reaching out to grab the phone. Squinting as she looked at the bright screen, Casey saw that Emily had called yet again. Noting in the phones history that her best friend had called three times and left two messages, followed quickly by four texts and a picture mail, Casey sighed and finally hit reply.

_Casey just let me know you're ok._ Was the last message that Casey had just received and she used her thumb to write back quickly.

_We're not ok, I'm sorry, I'll call you tomorrow I just need to sleep now._

Casey placed the phone back on the night stand, face down, and flopped onto her back with a sigh that was interrupted with a surprise sob. As scared and creeped out as she had felt all day, right now she felt ten times worse. Her entire body ached with either exhaustion or stress, probably both, and there was a weight on her chest that reminded her vaguely of the last time she fought with Derek and he wound up sitting on her. The only way she could describe herself right now was absolutely devastated.

Casey spent nearly a half an hour of flopping around, trying to find a spot where she was comfortable enough to stop the tears that were now stinging her eyes to the point of annoyance. Finally, convinced that she wouldn't sleep tonight, Casey threw the corner of her sheets back and walked out to the hallway towards the bookshelf between her and Derek's room.

Here in the hallway, Casey felt the feeling of having Derek stand behind her with the SuperSoaker return. Allowing herself to look around the hallway just once, Casey returned her eyes to the books in front of her to look for something she knew she could lose herself in.

Just as she was trying to decide between Atonement and Suzanne's Letters to Nicholas, Casey heard the chime from her e-mail, notifying her that she got a new item in her inbox. Picking Atonement over the other book, which was a tear jerker, Casey returned to her room and flipped on the switch. She walked over to her computer chair and flopped down, tossing the book over to rest on her pillow. Folding one leg under her, Casey moved her computer mouse to take the computer out of standby mode and let her eyes trail down her inbox list. The last message she received was from Emily when she would have been in study hall, and Casey had already read that.

"Ok, freak computer." Casey muttered to herself after refreshing the page to see that nothing had changed. She stood from the computer chair and moved to sit on her bed to read when she remembered Derek's computer. "Oh, Derek, this better not be porn." Casey grumbled with wide eyes as she hurried out of her room and into Derek's.

Casey sat in front of the computer and collected herself before moving the mouse to illuminate the screen. '1 new message' was in bold on the menu bar and she clicked on it, sighing to keep her nerves in check. The screen popped up with Derek's email, and Casey was shocked that he had checked the box to remember his password. "Thank you, finally, I get some help."

"_Derek- it was good to see you at John's Friday. Sorry I had to leave early. There was some stupid fight, did you see? We'll be having more parties over break, come! Missy."_

Casey's eyes scanned the quick letter and grumbled at the obscurity of it. But when she read over it again, she realized that she had missed the fact that it gave his whereabouts on Friday night, and her heart leapt into her throat as she tried to figure out who sent it. There were no other names more ambiguous than Missy and John, so that didn't help, and Casey hadn't been in school long enough to hear about a fight during the weekend. If someone from their school had known where Derek was on Friday, she was sure they would have called.

Her adrenaline rush soared when she pushed the back button and saw that the answer to her search was in the most obvious space, Missy's email address. "".

"WCHS," Casey breathed, disbelieving that she had found a clue. "Warwick County High School."

Behind her, Derek was practically jumping on his bed. "That's it, Case! Holy shit I can't believe my password was saved!"

"Oh god," Casey groaned, and Derek stopped moving, wondering if his stepsister was going to vomit. Suddenly, she shot up and ran into her room.

Derek stood at her opened door and wondered if she cared that anyone could see her change into her jeans and practically tear her flannel top off to throw on a hoody over her bra.

Casey shoved her phone and her license in her pocket and shot down the stairs to where Nora was lying on the couch with a washcloth over her eyes. "Mom!!"

Nora sat up quickly, her hands shooting out in front of her as the washcloth fell into her lap. "What? Casey, what is it?"

"Mom- I found an email!" Casey said, already shoving her feet into her tennis shoes as she spoke loudly. "There was this party and I think Derek went, and I think that if we just go there then-"

"Casey," Nora interrupted in a calm, caring voice. "Honey, no. No one's going anywhere tonight."

"But Mom, I think Derek's in-"

"Casey, I said no." Nora's voice reached a firmer tone, and her mom's face showed that she meant what she was saying. "We've got a search set up and no one's leaving tonight so late, especially you."

Tears were already pouring out of Casey's eyes. Her thoughts trailed back to the delay in calling in the police, the doubt the adults in the house had in the oldest child, and anger flooded over her. "Fine," She had every intention of continuing to snap back at her mom, but instead her voice lost in a sob. Casey's hand shot out and grabbed the keys to Nora's car before turning and leaving the house, slamming the door as hard as she could possibly manage.

Even through the adrenaline, the tears and Casey's shaking hands, she ran to the car and was pulling away from the curb as Nora opened to door to yell at her daughter to stop.

"This is so something Derek would do." Casey muttered as she sped towards the highway, obviously not caring that she had no idea where she was going.

Alright guys, I've got some major ass kissing to do. I am so sick of this chapter, it feels like it's 4 months long- oh that's right that's how long I took to write it. I really hope it's not a freakishly boring as it feels to me, since it's been haunting me since before Christmas. I apologize for the wait, my once a week updates got severely off track. All I have is the same excuses that you always get, life, health, work, family, tragedies, and laziness all got in my way. Anyway, the B.S. is over, and I'll be cranking the rest of this story out and with any luck I'll have at least one more chapter posted tomorrow, and I really dream about finishing the damn thing while I'm house sitting at a place with the internet.

**Thank you so so so much TO EVERYONE that has reviewed for me. I have been a douchebag with the updates, and I apologize. After writing replies to everyone that reviewed, i really saw how many I had. I can't thank you enough. **

_LaFolie: Thank you so much for the review- you are totally sweet! I plan on finishing soon, not abruptly, just promptly!_

_DaseyMustHappen: First of all, __**WORD **__to your sn. ;-) Thank you soo much, I'm totally floored that these two are semi-in character. I found out that it's totally hard to write a good Derek in such a broody, angsty story when he's such a fool most of the time, and I just don't know how other authors do it!! I'm stoked that you got hooked, and I sincerely hope this chapter wasn't a let down. _

_Firechildfiredancerfireidiot13: Thanks! I'm glad you don't view this one as one of those stories, I agree with that. I pretty much wanted to follow the movie since it was farfetched, but not completely pathetic. :-) I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with the end, but I do love happy endings, so hopefully it takes me that direction. Because the ending in the movie was definitely NOT happy._

_Savannah: Gee, new reader, you so openly love a new writer ;-) I love you too, thanks for reading even though you don't watch this amazingly wonderful show, which is better than any other show ever written ever. Maybe I can bribe you to keep reading! And then you'll fall in love with the idea of this crazy boy and you'll start watching the show!! _

_Agroxneko: Sorry for the wait! And thanks for the review!_

_Jayley: I concur, I just really feel like Derek needs some unintentional neglect to really make this story work ;-) that and Derek Whumpage is ALWAYS hawt... to me anyhow. P.S. I heard from a lotta people on other stories that alerts were down for a while. Which sucks for everyone!_

_Princetongirl: Thank you for the review! And sorry for the wait... I suck.  
_

_LexieCoop: SWEET I am so glad you say that, because the movie effing sucked. :-D I'm still trying to figure out how to end it, because we all know how much that sucked._

_PaoPuKitten: Yay! I'm glad I've interested you! I don't recommend the movie, if you haven't picked that up the last 1,000 times I've said it in the first 4 chapters. ;-) I can't help that it stuck in my head so bad that I had to make a fanfic for it!! I hope this chapter is interesting for you!_

_PhantomsSoprano: Thanks so much for the review! I hope I've sprinkled enough Dasey in here for you, it's a little hard when it's one sided. I was going to have Derek sit down and talk to his dad about wanting Casey, but I figured that'd be ... I dunno. Lame. So I didn't. Derek does what he wants when he wants and it adds to his superhawtness._

_Marina-f: Who doesn't like a food euphemism!! :-) I pretty much still commend your patience, if you're still reading... Sorry for the wait, I'm so glad you enjoyed chapter 4, I hope 5 is up to par too._

_Anonymous: Thanks for the review!! You are in no way impatient, I am just painstakingly slow. I really do try to make up for the wait with long chapters. It's especially hard when I have to go to my mom's house and endure her psychotic-ness just to update. However, I'm super glad for your update, and I Hope you enjoyed this!!_

_Jeni27: I would definitely have to hurt myself severely if I killed Derek, however I don't quite know what I'm going to do. It's been writing itself for the past 23,000 words, so who knows where it's going to go?? Thanks so much, I hope you're still reading._

_Petecomplex: Although Psych is another favorite show __**ever**__, In "Power Failure"... and a few other, I think, they show the Principal's name is actually Lassiter. And as for Det. Spencer, maybe I got the name from the show, I was basically just creating a character to abuse for one chapter before throwing him away again. Thanks for the review!_

_Sunybee: Thank you so much, and sorry for the wait :-( _

_Bethy Ann: I definitely saw the movie, and hated it. Don't ask why I wrote the story on a movie I hate, because I don't understand. I actually Netflixed it half way through what I've already written to get a better feel for it since it'd been a while, and I still hate it. :-) Shockingly, I would actually recommend it. But I don't really know why. The main character is way emo and scenster and totally hawt the second time around. :-) It's a lot different than the story, which is good, but yanno... thank you so much for reviewing, I'm totally blushing!_

_Lady Azura: Thanks so much! I hope you're still reading... _


	6. Searching and Hoping

**The people I'm housesitting for turned off their computer, and they have a password. This was supposed to be up Friday. Sorry for the wait. More very soon.**

**Summary: **After having a serious accident Derek looms around the house unseen, learning things about his family he never expected. Eventual Dasey

**Disclaimer: I own neither Life with Derek nor The Invisible.**

**--**

The Invisible  
_Searching and Hoping_

Casey wasn't entirely sure why she stole the car. She was sure it had a lot to do with her emotions. However, she wasn't sure why she had sped around the corner before her mom could even open the garage to get George's car, or why she took the back route to the highway so they wouldn't know where she was headed. One thing she was sure of was that she had lost her mind.

"I can't believe I did that." Casey said to herself as she drove, cutting the silence around her.

"Oh come on, Case, that was _awesome_." Derek answered her, sitting in the passenger seat with his body turned sideways to face her.

Casey picked up her cell phone from her lap and watched the screen light up as her mom called for the third time. Sighing, she placed the phone in the cup holder and returned her focus to the road. "What am I doing?" She asked her self, checking her review mirror. "I don't even know who I'm looking for."

"Yes, you do, you're looking for Missy Thomas." Derek leaned back slightly, getting more comfortable in Casey's mom's SUV. "How exactly that's going to lead to John- or whoever- wherever the party was, and eventually to me... well I'll leave that creative thinking up to you."

Casey shook her head, her knuckles white as she gripped the steering wheel. "I find _one_ name, and I take off. How am I going to find one girl on Warwick when all I know is her name?" Casey's eyes darted down to the dashboard clock. "At ten at night..."

Derek watched her mull this over and could see the confusion dancing on her face. He knew that she might turn around and go back home, she was well-behaved enough to blame the whole thing on nerves and get a free-pass from her mom. "Case," Derek wished with all his being that she could just hear him again. "I need you, right now. I need you to find me."

Casey sighed and slowed down, and turned on her blinker to pull off of the highway at a pit stop, not even ten miles out of London.

"Casey, please." Derek leaned forward and put a hand on her wrist where her hands were still connected to the steering wheel. She was once again back to being oblivious to him, and didn't react.

Casey swallowed the fear of what she had actually done and kept her hard stare out the windshield as she gently reached down and turned her lights off, leaving just the running lights on for safety. There had to be something to do.

The one option that coursed through her head was the internet. Missy Thomas would be on the internet, and Casey was confident that she could fiddle around with a search engine to find a student from WCHS by that name. The problem that she was much too aware of was that she had no access to the net at all. The library was long closed, as was the Tully's in downtown London with a computer lounge. After she lost her job at Smelly Nelly's, Casey couldn't afford the data plan anymore, so the internet wasn't available on her phone either.

"I have no options." She muttered to herself, and didn't hear Derek argue loudly from the passenger seat.

Casey finally let go of the steering wheel and leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes as she lost herself in disappointment. She had built up the courage to leave her mother standing in the living room after getting strict instructions not to go out. She had all but stolen the car and left the city, heading for a place that she had only driven through once in search of a girl whose whole name she didn't even know.

And here she was, stuck, sitting at a truck stop with one life line left. A life line she didn't want to use.

Derek watched as Casey picked up her cell phone from where she had tossed it into a cup holder and dialed a number without opening her eyes. "That was incredibly smooth for you, McDonald." He told her, a playful grin gracing his face despite his panic that his step sister was giving up on him.

Casey chewed on her bottom lip while she waited for her best friend to pick up. Even though Emily had been ignored and abused since Casey's world flipped over from this tragedy, she would definitely pick up.

"Casey?"

"Hi," Casey said sheepishly. She was ashamed now that she had ignored the one person that she could always count on. Emily had been there for Casey since the moment they met, and she had been neighbors to the Venturi's from the beginning. She deserved to know at least what the situation was.

"Casey, what's going on? I tried to come over but your mom wouldn't let me in. Are you ok? Is everyone ok?"

Casey swallowed her tears, knowing that they would fall the moment she opened her mouth to talk.

"I heard about Derek, and I've been so worried." Emily continued, recognizing Casey's silence. "You were so devastated today at school, I'm sorry I didn't-"

"Nothing is your fault." Casey said in a pitiful, high pitched voice as the tears slid out from her closed eyes. She hated crying, how she looked when she cried, how it hurt for hours after she was done. "I'm sorry I ran off."

"Oh Casey,"

"I'll tell you everything we know... just, give me a minute." Casey took a deep breath and opened her eyes. She sniffled and leaned forward away from the seat with renewed courage, not knowing that the source of her confidence was coming from Derek's hand soothingly rubbing circles on her back.

"Take your time, Casey, I just want to help."

That was perfect, that was exactly what Casey needed. Help.

"Derek stormed out on Friday after we were all kind of... horrible to him. We were all three PMSing and I just really don't know what was going on with George and Edwin, but... we took it out on Derek I think. Long story short... he pretty much just didn't come back. George spent most of Saturday pissed off, and then all of Sunday denying everything." Casey felt her tears stop as the anger seeped back into her heart. "He didn't even feel like calling the cops right away because he doesn't trust Derek."

"Oh my god, Case. What's going on now?" Emily wouldn't tell her best friend that she had heard the yelling from her neighbor's front yard only a half hour before.

Casey rested her head on the steering wheel, refusing to acknowledge that she was starting to feel extremely tired. "Well," she started, wondering exactly when she had gone from a worried sister to an obsessive super sleuth. "I couldn't take it anymore, and I went into his room. He got an email from someone at Warwick County about a party he was at on Friday." She easily and intentionally left out the part where she was certain that Derek was dead, certain that his ghost had been next to her all day. "I found a name, and I just ran out of the house."

She took a moment to consider how to ask Emily to help. Casey needed that name looked up, and she didn't want to be abrupt in begging someone she had been distant with to help. "I don't know where I'm going."

To Casey's dismay, Emily let out a slightly amused chuckle at her friends brash actions, but had the good graces to cover it up with an offer. "I could Google it, I'm pretty good at that."

"Could you?" Casey asked through a relieved sigh.

"Of course," Emily said, moving across her bedroom back in London towards her computer. "We don't need you wandering around aimlessly in Warwick, the cops will pick you up and think you're a crazy woman."

Casey could hear the typing start through the cell, and waited for Emily to ask for the name again. "It was signed Missy. But the email address was mrthomas."

"Ok," A beat. "There's a Melissa Thomas on the volleyball team, and a Marissa Thomas on the softball team." Emily answered.

Casey's jaw dropped. "How did you find that so fast?"

"I told you I'm good at it." Emily answered smugly, looking at pictures of the two teams. "They're both seniors, both blond."

Casey inwardly gave the same eye roll she gave Derek every time another blond showed up at the door. Of course she was a blond, senior, varsity sports player. "Everything I'm not." Casey whispered, quiet enough the phone didn't pick it up.

"Ok, so there's seven Thomas families in Warwick. You should consider yourself very lucky, there's about two pages of Thomas families in London."

"Ok, what should I do?" Casey asked, sitting up straight, wiping the remainder of the tears off of her jaw line, thankful that they had stopped falling. "Should I check all the addresses?"

Emily let out a breath, seeing all the little red stars on the direction finder were fairly spread out. "I don't really know," she started. "If it were day time, you could go knocking. But it's almost eleven at night..."

Casey mulled this over for a long time, thinking about what the best mode of action would be. Emily was right, she couldn't just go start pounding on doors at this time of night. "His car," Casey gasped.

"What? What about his car? Did you see it?"

"No," Casey breathed out, reaching over quickly to the glove compartment for paper and a pen, chills running down her spine, either from excitement or from the close proximity to Derek. "His car is out there somewhere. If it were wrecked or parked illegally the cops would have picked it up and figured out whose it is. Maybe it's around one of those houses."

Even Derek could see the holes in that plan. The email clearly said that the party was at someone named John's house, not at Missy's. The chances of Missy just happening to be neighbors to one of these houses were very slim, and Casey couldn't just be out wandering Warwick all night, no matter how small it was.

"Casey, I don't think-"

"I don't care how bad the plan is," obviously Casey knew the faults too. "I have to try, no one else in my stupid family will. We have to try."

"Alright," Emily relented, "You'll be walking about four miles to hit all the houses. Do you have something to write on or do you want me to text them to you?"

"I've got a tablet," Casey said, using her shoulder to hold the phone while she wrote the seven addresses as Emily told them to her carefully.

"Casey, I know it's just Warwick, but... be careful out there. It's night, and cold. And I doubt you've slept."

"Emily, please-"

"Just remember where your car is so you can nap if you get too tired." Emily turned away from her computer and looked out her window to where she could see the Venturi's back yard.

"Thank you." Casey said sincerely, grabbing her phone to switch to her other ear after placing the tablet with the addresses on the dashboard. "Bye Em, I'll call if I need anything, that ok?"

"Yeah, let me know."

Casey hung up the phone and placed it back in the cup holder. Emily had listed the addresses in order from north to south, and while they weren't all very close together, they were in a suburban type neighborhood so at least they wouldn't be too hard to find.

"This is _such_ a faulty plan, Derek." Casey muttered, and Derek knew that even though she said his name, she was talking to herself. "And it better work."

"We're on the wrong side of the neighborhood." Derek told Casey as she stood in front of the first Thomas house on the list. "You couldn't be further away."

Derek was leaning casually against the front of his stepmom's car, watching as Casey stood in the middle of the cul-de-sac staring at the yellow house in the dark. The street was fairly empty, and Casey couldn't help but think that the ranch-style two-story looked eerily similar to the house in Amityville Horror. Derek had convinced her to watch it, telling her it was more of a thriller. Casey had only agreed because Ryan Renolds was in it, and she never could resist that actor.

"Stupid movie," Casey breathed, stuffing her hands into the tight pockets of her jeans and walking forward slowly, trying to avoid being a nuisance and having the cops called on her.

There were only four cars that weren't in their driveways or garages, and they were definitely not the Prince. Casey made a slow circle without ever getting on the sidewalk, looking critically at each door of the street. Nothing screamed at her, nothing seemed out of place. Only a few lights were on and she could see the blue glow of a few upper story bedroom tv's.

No Derek.

"God, this night is going to be very long." Casey told her self, bowing her head and making her way back to the car. According to Emily's MapQuest, Thomas 1 and 2 were far enough from the others that she planned to drive to them separately. Thomas' 3 through 6 were only blocks from each other, so she would walk between and finally drive to Thomas 7.

Then of course, she would go to the hospital.

Casey slid into the driver's seat and started the car, flinch at how loud it seemed to be when the rest of the world was going to sleep. It was almost eleven now, and as much as Casey was aware that she should be sleeping, she wasn't tired at all. Adrenaline, stupidity, and a false sense of hope were all keeping her going even after her long weekend.

It was a short drive to Thomas 2, and Casey turned in the drivers' seat to grab her mother's Carhart jacket from the backseat. Leaving London at this time of night with nothing but her sweater and jeans wasn't proving to be a good plan.

"Alright, Casey," She spoke to herself, subconsciously aware of Derek's eyes on her. "Find something."

"Why don't you just _go_ to the hospital?" Derek asked, unsure if the feeling in his chest was anger, anxiety, or his physical body dying in the hospital bed. He had to take a moment and forget his own rush to see that Casey wandering around searching and hoping he was alive was more than anyone else was doing.

Casey pushed herself out of the car and looked at the second house. It too was yellow, but had a much less menacing appearance. It matched the houses on either side of it, two-stories with small white framed windows and a tiny, manicured garden behind the mail box. Once again, there was no sign of the Prince, no car that stood out as a teenage girl's and no obvious ditch where Casey could look for her stepbrother's body.

Not that she thought she had the guts to look in a ditch if she happened to find one.

Still though, Casey took a small, slow lap around the cul-de-sac once again, and came up dry. Something that sounded like an ankle biter started yapping in the house to the immediate right of Thomas 2, and there was a curious red light in the top story of the neighbors across the street. The low pounding of a hip hop bass seeped out of one of the houses, Casey wasn't sure which one, and the garage was open in the first house of the street, letting out some gorgeous piano riff being played inside.

Shaking her head, Casey repeated her actions and got in the car, driving to Thomas 3. This time though, she parked near the sidewalk and took the keys out of the engine, stuffing them in the pocket of her mom's coat.

"Time to do some walking," Casey said, feigning confidence, pretending like leaving the car behind didn't make her feel nervous. This was Warwick, a small town full of people with money. There was no obvious immediate threat. But this was Casey, and Casey could always talk herself into a panic.

Derek followed Casey closely, his eyes glued to her feet as she walked towards Thomas 3. He felt like Casey was walking further and further away from him, she knew that the place she needed to be looking was the hospital.

"Still nothing," Casey sighed almost silently, and Derek looked up at the house.

"Oh Case, wait." Derek stopped and looked around him, everything on this street started seeming familiar. It wasn't where the party was, and the Prince wasn't here, but Derek recognized it.

Remembering when he was walking around the neighborhood in search of his own body, Derek knew that he had gone down this street. Casey's idiotic search was actually taking her close to his car. Derek's heart rate shot up and he watched as Casey turned from Thomas 3 and headed towards the next address.

The Prince was one street over.

Ok, I was totally all in for this chapter until I had it in my hands for a few days. Now it feels short and rushed, but at least it's up within a week instead of 5 months. I apologize for the wait when I promised Friday, I had no access to computers. My idiot mother got about 20 viruses after trying to download something that I already have, and of course the one at the place I was watching was down. Life sucks without the interent, don't try it.

You all were way way too good to me for the last chapter. The reviews were awesome, and i'm so thankful for them! This section is going to take me forever!

_Ilovederekventuri91: First of all, I love derek venturi too. :-D Thank you for the review, i hope there'll be more omg's in the next chapter!!_

_PinkDough: Thanks so much! The next chapter should be out soon!_

_LadyAzura: Yay for sticking with me! I'll churn out 7 asap!_

_DaseyMustHappen: I'm so glad the chapter wasn't shmoo. I stared at it for so long that it just felt like ... the most mundane thing anyone could ever write. I'm very excited that you enjoyed it. Your comment about hyperventilating completely floored me, but keep breathing, it's essential for life ;-) jk. More soon!_

_Jayley: suh-weet! i'm glad you remembered me, and liked the chapter!_

_Ghostwriter: thanks pal! Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for the review._

_MaggieRose17: Thanks so much! If you do see the movie before this is finished though, worry not- the ending will not be the same. I flirted with the idea for a long time about making it the same, but i can't handle that. I am a happy ending kinda girl. I think that Derek and Casey would TOTALLY torment the hell out of eachother past death/consciousness. So who better to help Derry than Casey!? Thanks again and i hope the wait isn't too long. I'm really trucking on this._

_LaFolie: Yay! I'm glad you liked it! I agree, I feel like chapter 5 really kicked them in the pants. Someone really needed to get back out of the house- and now the ball's in motion. Glad you enjoy the relationship i stuck our two favs with, and hopefully i'll have more up for you soon!_

_Jeni27: Hah, I liked that line too. Derek can be so fun to write! Sorry you had to reread! And I'm glad you're still with me, I'll have more out soon._

_kagomeserinity2: I'll be sure to get more soon, thanks for the review!_

_Living.By.Will: Lol thanks so much! I hated the movie, which I say about 15 times an update, but obviously it made an impact on me if i'm over here writing a fanfic based on it! ;-) Thank so much for the review, i agree, Dasey's the only way! P.S. I love your sn!_

_Cheshy: Your review made me so happy- you'll probably never even know. I am so glad you think this is original, it's really hard to write a Dasey that hasn't been done. And screw the movie ;-) ;-) _

_Savannah: Yep, I totally drunk texted you. ;-) And I still love you for reading, and I still love you for reviewing. I will get you to obsess over LWD, I swears it! Even if i have to bust out the umbrellas and the moonlight skeletons!_

_Spunky-hyper-girl: I am TOTALLY parent-bashing right now :-) I can't help it, I love making George and Nora both clueless and heartless, even at Derek's expense. I do watch Without a Trace from time to time, and i enjoy the actual investigation part of the story. I don't have TV right now but when I do I'm all about Bones. Yeah!_

_addieXmitsume: Your wish has come true! I swear I was ready to post on friday, but apparently it's a crime for me to use a computer. Everyone's junk was either infected with viruses or shut off! I'll get the next chapter up soon. Thanks for the review!_

_FirechildFiredancerFireidiot: Thanks for the review, I'll have more up shortly!_

_VintageHeart: Yeah I sometimes struggle updating. Unfortunately I don't even know what HSM stands for, but good luck updating! Thanks for the review!_

_supergirlscafe: Don't you wanna just kick her and force her to go to the hospital to look for him!? Thanks so much for reviewing!_


	7. Exhaustion and Heartbreak

To say that Casey was frustrated was quite the understatement

**This is awful. I hate that I even wrote this. Let's just call it the seventh inning stretch- so skim over it, and feel confident that the next chapter won't be so bad. Dies **

**Summary: **After having a serious accident, Derek looms around the house unseen, learning things about his family he never expected. Eventual Dasey.

**Disclaimer: I own neither Live With Derek nor The Invisible.**

**--**

The Invisible

_Exhaustion and Heartbreak_

Edwin burst into Lizzie's room, not taking any extra time to consider whether or not she'd be angry at him for not knocking. The two of them were always closer to each other than Derek and Casey were, but right now, they both felt like they had no one but eachother to rely on.

"Ok- I heard Nora tell George that the cops can't do anything about Casey, and that a search party for Derek would be organized tomorrow." Edwin was out of breath to begin with, so by the end of his sentence, he was nearly blue in the face.

"Edwin," Lizzie started, standing to walk behind her step-brother to close the door to her room. Marty had finally fallen asleep, and she didn't want to risk waking her up again. "That's all information we already knew, why are you so..." She paused for a moment to look over his appearance once again. "That?"

Edwin slouched and nearly threw himself down into Lizzie's desk chair. "I'm exhausted. And now Casey's out of reach too..." Edwin looked up at Lizzie, seeing that her eyes were brimming with tears.

"I hate not being able to do anything." Lizzie said, her voice breaking. "I can help save the rainforest, I can raise everyone awareness of their carbon footprint, I can usually stop a Casey/Derek meltdown from happening. But I... I just don't know what to do now..."

BREAK

To say that Casey was frustrated was quite the understatement. She had been through what she could only describe as 'hell and back' over the past days and hours, and she was beginning to lose both her patience and her drive.

So, finding herself exhausted physically and emotionally, freezing in the Canadian fall night while she ambled around a neighborhood she had no knowledge of whatsoever, Casey had to admit that she was irritated. Of course Derek was the reason she was miserable. Derek was _always _the reason she was miserable. But this time, she was feeling so awful because he was _gone_, not because he was pestering her. He was in danger, missing, maybe even dead, and he was making her a different kind of miserable that she wasn't very comfortable with.

"You're stupid, Casey," she berated herself, blowing out a steamy breath that lingered in the frigid air before dissipating into nothing. "Go out, knowing nothing... running aimlessly..."

Casey stopped walking, noticing that she was standing right in the middle of a four-way stop with the third Thomas residence behind her. "Not even just a fork in the road." She muttered. The next Thomas house was several blocks away, and she somewhat doubted that the Carhart she was wearing would keep her warm for much longer. The temperature felt like it was dropping consistently, and she herself would be in the hospital if she wasn't careful.

The low rumble of an engine interrupted her thoughts and Casey quickly crossed the street, stepping behind a hedge as a sedan slowly passed. Casey pulled her cell out of her pocket and check the time, annoyed at how bright the light was in the shadows. Seeing that it was just now approaching midnight, she sighed before standing and observing everything around her.

Several of the houses visible from her spot standing on the corner of some stranger's lawn had the light blue glow of a TV in one or more window, and she thought she could hear music beating from somewhere. Then again, that could have just been the pounding in her head. Casey noted that a few of the houses had the garage doors open even when all the lights were off, and she was relieved to realize that she must be standing in a somewhat secure neighborhood. Her eyes locked on Thomas 3 once again, standing tall at the center of the cul-de-sac.

Suddenly, something quietly beating repeatedly scared Casey, and adrenaline rushed unpleasantly through her body while her eyes frantically searched for the source of the noise. She focused on the street lights when she heard the noise again, and noticed with a sigh that the night swallows were out, swooping under the lamps to get the moths that dared to be out in the cold. Casey relaxed a little, but the tight tension that settled in her refused to leave completely.

Raising a hand up to her head to try and ease the headache she was giving herself, Casey ran her hand down the length of her hair and noticed that her hair had annoyingly gotten tangled where the collar of the coat met her neck. She grumbled before pulling a thin, black hair-tie off of her wrist and pulling her long hair up and winding it into a messy bun to get out of the way. This, of course, just to add to her diminishing patience, left her neck and ears markedly colder, and she wished she had been smart enough to wear a hood.

"One more thing you didn't think of," she scolded herself, and finally turned her back to the street with Thomas 3 to head the four blocks south to the next house.

From just behind her, a flock of swallows that she hadn't been able to see were disrupted by something that Casey couldn't hear, and all flew off with quiet chirps that were more than enough to whip the teenager around to look for the cause. Resisting the urge to call out asking if anyone was there, Casey walked slowly back towards where the birds were, just back on the side of the street that she had been on before and to the west a couple dozen feet. A few of the little dark birds were still visible against the white fencing, and Casey slowly crossed the street, feeling that a flock of birds out at _midnight_ had to be some sort of anomaly that deserved to be looked at. No matter how many times she had told the lead role in the movies to _not_ follow the strange sounds in the night.

Casey prayed for a cat, or a squirrel, anything that would have caused the ruckus, but as she stepped onto the sidewalk after crossing the road she found nothing but the strong apprehension that she hadn't felt since sitting in Derek's bedroom. Casey swallowed hard and decided that was enough to go in a new direction, and threw a glance up to the street signs before walking further west.

Derek, rosy cheeked and out of breath, pumped a fist in the air and spun in a circle as Casey walked past him. "Jesus, Case, _thank_ you!" He had been chasing birds for about 5 minutes now, trying to catch his step-sisters attention. Finally, finally she decided to catch on and follow him.

"Don't get lost, Casey, don't get lost." The teenager repeated quietly to herself, accounting the goose bumps down her neck as another nasty symptom of under dress rather than a result of walking past Derek.

"I don't give a crap if you get lost," Derek started, taking quick steps to catch up to her. "I just want you to find the freaking car at this point." Casey, of course was completely oblivious to the comment, and Derek found himself missing the complimentary screech of his name that she would have normally given him.

Casey continued walking, her eyes watching three different shadows of herself from the various streetlights around her. She was surprised to realize that she wasn't very scared at all, now that the strange noises had been credited to the birds. Her initial adrenaline rush was fading, however, and her eyes were starting to burn from being tired and burnt out. Fortunately the chattering of her teeth and the rhythmic beats of her feet on the pavement were enough to distract her from her fatigue.

"Right, Case." Derek directed, noticing the cross street where his car was parked was only a few yards a head of them. Casey's eyes didn't rise from her feet. "We have to turn." He repeated, bumping her with his shoulder, which did not have the same effect as it did earlier that day in the hallway of their house, when he was able to physically move her.

Moments later, Casey stood in the dark with her big blue eyes staring up at the crossroad in front of her and the words on the reflective green signs. Instead of seeing "Bluegrass" and "Clementine" all she saw was "You're lost" crossing "Turn around". The stinging in her eyes mixed with the dry, frigid winter air, causing Casey to have to blink a few times to keep tears of physical exhaustion and heartbreak from falling down her face. Her lungs were starting to burn from the cold air, and the tightness in her chest from shivering made a small portion of her brain feel as though she was being suffocated.

"Casey," she breathed almost silently to herself, "You're an idiot. No smarter than Der-" When a sudden prickling sensation ran through her right arm, Casey cut her own thought short and looked around her for what had interrupted her quiet self-loathing.

Derek started when he noticed that his incessant tugging on his step-sister's right arm had actually paid off. That plan had been much easier than trying to get the swallows to fly away again. And, Derek noted as Casey took a few cautious steps to the right, straight for the Prince, incredibly rewarding.

"One day you're really going to have to explain to me why you can feel all this crap and no one else can." Derek whispered in her ear, watching her eyes closely for a reaction.

Casey swallowed, the words not comprehendible in her ear, but definitely detectible. She was going in the right direction, and Derek was with her.

BREAK

Nora sat down heavily on the couch in the living room of the McDonald-Venturi house and wiped away the tears that were falling down her face. Something deep inside her, past the point that was detectable by anyone without a maternal instinct, she knew that Derek had found trouble much worse than just running off to spite his father. Though the notion didn't surprise her in the least, Nora could tell, she knew thorough the core of her being, that her oldest step-son was in a lot of trouble.

Still though, that didn't stop her from ignoring Casey's frantic claims that she knew where Derek had gone so long ago- a whole three days now? But Nora had closed her own daughter out, and had been blind-sided by the car speeding out of the drive way much too fast for her to follow. Casey had never done anything like that, so Nora never saw it coming.

"George, honey, please," Nora said, her voice so close to a whimper she almost took a moment to be embarrassed.

George came to a sudden halt, the father of the blended family's face showing new worry lines that seemed to have carved themselves in the past twenty-four hours. "What, Nora?" He answered with a slight bite in his voice that didn't go unnoticed by his second wife.

"Please stop pacing, I'm anxious enough with-"

"Stop pacing?" George repeated, using anger to poorly mask his panic. Both of the oldest children were missing now, and she wanted him to stop pacing. "What do we do now, Nora? We've already called the cops, they're no help at all-"

"George," Nora stopped him short. "We need to keep our heads on straight, we need to stay calm and continue to try and get a hold of Casey. We need to," George looked over at his wife to see her face had fallen into her hands. "I don't know, George."

BREAK

Pounding on the windows didn't work. Pulling on the door handle with all her might proved to be a failure, too. So, Derek wasn't shocked in the least when his step-sister turned around and slammed her back against the Prince before sliding down the metal until she sat on the pavement with her knees pulled up to her chest.

Tears were running freely down her face and Derek found himself not completely understanding why she was so upset. "You found my car, Case," Derek said, crouching down next to while she sobbed. "You didn't fine my rotting corpse, this is good news."

Casey sighed and wiped her face. "Casey," Derek started, putting a hand on one of her right shoulder. "Casey, you have to find the hospital. I know that you know you're wasting time."

"I'm wasting time." Casey muttered to herself.

Derek nodded, and watched her eyes as intently as he could while she searched the pattern in her jeans for an answer. "Go to the hospital." He told her as strongly as he could, hoping against everything that he could get through to her once more. Their communicating situation was a mystery to him at this point. It was hard enough to talk to her when he wasn't half-dead and invisible.

"Ok," Casey said, standing up slowly after Derek had taken a step back. "Okay, I'll go to the hospital." Derek wondered if she was talking to herself or to him.

Casey faltered as she rose, nearly loosing her footing, and though Derek tried to help her, she was able to correct herself on her own. Suddenly, so many hours without food or sleep crashed down on Casey and she turned to place both palms on the drivers side window of the Prince. "I don't want to find you dead," she muttered to interior of the car and slowly pushed herself up. Turning, Casey started walking down the road that she had just sprinted up after seeing the horrible color of the Prince sitting just out of the circle of light cast by a street lamp.

She closed her eyes and swallowed before stopping at the crossroads of "You're lost" and "Turn around" once again. A sigh and a sniffle later, Casey was retracing her steps towards her mom's car with Derek following silently behind her.

--

This was so much shorter than I wanted it to be, but I've been staring at it for weeks, and I just have to end it here. I'm going to start with a new blank document for the next sections to unscramble myself. And I apologize for the ridiculousness of the George/Nora bit, I just had to break that stupid emo wandering crap from Casey. I'm telling you. I can write Derek forever, but when Casey decides to cry all over my work, I come to a complete stop.

So, so sorry for the wait, and I promise to have this thing done by the 22nd, as that is when I lost computer privileges again. Good news, a move may be at hand for me, so I may possibly get the wonders of the internet again.

_Thanks to everyone who reviewed for the last chapter. You've all been so flattering that I'm just hoping I'm not letting you down towards the end of this monster. Every time I get a review (which is so exciting that I check it instantly, regardless of work or anything else) I just get a rush knowing that you're pleased. Bear with me through this chapter and I'll put forth a better effort for chapter 8. The only thing I like about this crap is the title. :-) Later, and thanks so much again. _


	8. Blink and Refocus

**It's been 7 months. My bad. **

**Summary: **After having a serious accident Derek looms around the house unseen, learning things about his family he never expected. [Eventual Dasey]

**Disclaimer: I own neither Life with Derek nor The Invisible.**

**-------------------------------------**

The Invisible

_Blink and Refocus_

It took Casey a full block of sniffling and quiet sobs to get herself under control. The tear tracks stung down her face with the cold, but she could no longer feel it. Her eyes stung, her throat ached and her heart pounded, but she still trudged on. With Casey's legs as dependable as appendages made out of jello, Casey and Derek approached Nora's van.

As Casey stuck her hand in her left pocket to retrieve the remote entry key, a quiet chirp sounded from the right. Her phone was dying. "Of course," Casey groaned. "Why is this night so much like a bad movie?" She sighed, opened the doors to the car, and moved over to the drivers side to slide in.

Derek fixed his gaze on his step-sister as she depleted in front of his eyes. "You kinda look like crap." He observed of her as they both readied themselves for their next stop.

Casey didn't often make such poor decisions, and so in turn wasn't used to the consequences. Whereas Derek could tell her that if she ran too long and too hard without sleep that she would start to fail. He could explain that the burning of Casey's eyes was normal, and started to kick in shortly before the jaw clenching. The headache from grinding her teeth would lead to squinting and burning eyes, and then just after the lights started to get rings around them, her lids would try to close automatically.

Then, of course, there's the 'No Food' aspect of Casey's extended, stressful weekend. After years of stupidly playing hockey without eating, Derek would also be able to tell Casey all about what was happening as her body started to run on empty. Long gone were the hunger pains, turning into another kind of pain, feeling like a heartburn sitting too low in her belly. The need for nourishment would start to do a number on Casey's head, on top of the sleep deprivation.

Derek watched his rescuer from the passenger seat, tapping his fingers nervously on the arm rest. "Y'know, Case, if you pass out and wreck the car into a tree before you get to the hospital, neither one of us are going to benefit from this trip."

Casey hunched forward, away from the driver's seat of her mom's car, white-knuckling the poor steering wheel yet again. Her heart was pounding just as hard it was when she walked out on her mom, but now she was hesitant to get to her destination. Not to mention she had to consistently remind herself to keep her eyes open.

Trying to punch her shoulder when he saw her eyes losing focus, Derek hoped she could stay awake. "You're going to make it, Case. I've only got a little bit of time left, but I think we're going to make it…" He looked out to the street as the neighborhood thinned out into shops, and the street lights got closer together. His eyes fixed on the ring of bright light that the car shone through the orange-ish glow on the pavement, waiting for Casey to see the signs for the hospital.

Casey's foot was heavy on the break outside of the high school, and Derek swallowed hard, remembering his visit there earlier. The square blue sign outside of the high school stood, illuminated by the headlights, and Casey maneuvered the car into a left turn lane, stopping easily at a red light. She repeatedly blinked and refocused her eyes, waiting for the night-timer to switch her signal over to green.

* * *

It was 2:07am, and no word on where either of the missing Venturi-McDonald teens were. George ran a hand over his face and sat at the head of the table in the dining room, staring at the oak in the dim light spilling out from the kitchen.

Nora had unplugged the phones at 1:00am, after the caller ID had filled for the third time today, and the police had refused service in finding Casey for the fifth time. Since Casey had willingly driven away from the house with a valid license, so the cops couldn't help. It didn't seem to matter to them that this was the second member of the family on the 'missing' list, or that the family was suffering from a lot of blows in only four days.

George stood from his seat, feeling a sense of loss he hadn't known since they lost Marty when she was three. She was only gone for an hour, and was found asleep on top of the family van. Still, those sixty minutes seemed so life-altering, and George was not enjoying feeling that way for so many hours on end.

"Just let those kids come home safe," George muttered to the oak table, reaching his hand around the corner to turn off the last light in the living room. "Let them be safe." He turned and headed downstairs, the muffled cries of his second wife traveling up to him as he walked.

* * *

"It's green, Case." Derek muttered, feeling almost as downtrodden as she looked. When she didn't move, he threw a glance over at her and grimaced. Her face was twisted up and stiff, no doubt a product of trying to keep herself awake, but she was barely succeeding. Her eyes were clearly looking more _at_ the windshield than through it, and Derek watched the muscles in her temple tighten and release as she clenched her jaw repeatedly. "Case," he repeated louder, and watched as she refocused and turned through a yellow light.

The hospital looked a lot less inviting than any hospital should now that it was dark out. The lights mounted one floor above the landscape shone upwards, giving the entire building a looming-haunted-mansion feel. The majority of the street lights were on a reverse-motion sensor, so every few lights would flick off as Casey crept by at 10mph.

"I always had a hard time figuring out hospital parking..." Casey whispered, stopping at a crosswalk and narrowed her eyes to read the directional sign in front of them. "After-Hours Emergency Department…" She muttered, reading the signs and following the directions to the right. The entire hospital parking lot was something close to a round-about, and after a few moments of trying to ease her mom's car through the maze of empty pavement, Casey finally parked two rows from the Heli-pad and turned off the engine.

As the two of them got out, Derek felt shivers run up his spine as he remembered his previous visit, and how long he had to spend in the lift before he was able to get out and see his body.

'His body'... He still felt completely helpless and worried as he thought about how close he was to dying, not being able to ever harass his family (audibly) again... He started to feel about as exhausted as Casey looked, and knowing that he had to keep from feeling hopeless to help his step-sibling to find him, he slipped his hand into hers and stepped up onto the sidewalk outside of the Emergency Department.

Casey felt a shot of terror snake through her body, but held her head high as she walked through the automatic glass doors into the ED lobby. Around her, everything was quiet. A single receptionist sat at the desk staring at her computer with her chin resting on the heel of her hand, and the only other person in the lobby was an older woman sitting in the waiting room slowly flipping through a magazine.

The warm colors of the walls and floor melted with each other and seemed to have orange shadows in Casey's exhausted eyes, and though the overhead lights were bright enough to make her squint, she felt as if she were walking through a tunnel. She felt like she had a stocking cap on, blocking her ears from hearing the small white noises around her, but she could hear the nurse in the triage room typing slowly at her computer station.

Stepping up to the desk, the receptionist gave a warm smile, too alert for nearly 3 in the morning. "Hi sweety, do you have an emergency?" Casey's watched as the brunette in light green Eyore scrubs approached her.

Licking her lips, Casey swallowed before speaking, "Yeah," she started, shocked at how deep her voice sounded in her clouded head. "I need help finding someone."

* * *

That was very, very short. But hey, it's been an ass long time since I posted, and I'd rather post 3 pages and keep trucking than make it longer. I've combed over this a lot, changed a lot around... tried to incorporate the family... I still think it's mediocre. But I'm glad to post again. I'm still pondering the ending, not sure how much more I'll throw in. I'm so so sorry it's been so long since I've posted, I moved a LONG way away from home and had issues getting things set up and moved with me. Thank you to everyone that's stuck with this and left me more reviews. You're amazing.


	9. Worried and Impatient

**Another year and a half. What can I say? I suck. I'm trying to finish all my stories before I lose the internet again- I'm moving out to be poor and lonely AGAIN. Here goes. Short. But updated. Beggars or choosers? Tried to proof-read, but I'm fairly tossed and trying to hurry. Please enjoy and forgive me for the wait. Fail.**

**Summary:**After having a serious accident, Derek looms around the house unseen, learning things about his family he never expected. Eventual Dasey.

**Disclaimer: I own neither Live With Derek nor The Invisible.**

The Invisible

_Worried and Impatient_

Casey's eyes scrunched together as she tried to get them to focus on the receptionist in front of her. Her slow, tired mind took it's time to process the nurse's response.

"Do you know someone that's come in, sweety?" The receptionist picked her head up out of her hand and leaned forward to focus more completely on Casey. No doubt she was wondering if the teenager standing at her desk needed to be admitted.

"Yeah," Casey answered, a lie. She felt off-put to hear this lady... girl call her 'sweety'. "A...a boy," she started, then shook her head and restarted. "A teenager... I don't know if he's here, I don't know if..."

The receptionist's eyebrows knit together over her deep brown eyes, waiting for Casey to finish her poorly structured sentence. "He's been missing, but I just _know_ that he's here."

Derek sighed and leaned against the counter with one elbow. He threw his head to the side to get a few stray chunks of his tussled hair out of his eyes. "This isn't gonna work, Casey," he warned, watching her with worried and impatient eyes. There was no way the receptionist of the ER would give out any information to a minor who looked as though she could use a spin through the triage system as well.

"Well, honey, how do you know this boy?" 'Monica', Casey dully noticed the receptionist's nametag read, picked up a clipboard and flipped back a few pages to reveal a goldenrod sheet with a spreadsheet template printed out on it. From her side of the counter, Casey could only make out the lines of the table, a few of the rows crossed out with thick, black marker lines.

Derek saw this new sheet with all the dark corrections and felt a panic rise in him. Dark lines were never good. He threw a glance between Monica and Casey, and then decided to get the protected information himself. He took full advantage of being unseen, and walked around to the small opening in the counter next to a water dispenser and entered the 'Employees Only' side of the large wrap around desk. He kept one eye on Casey as she screwed up her face trying to think of the answer to the simple question, but looked down to the clipboard as well, looking for an update on himself.

This sheet was so much better than the sticky note that he had accidentally stumbled into at the hospital's front desk so few days ago. There were plenty more rows than the six descriptions he had seen then, but there were more rows with black lines through then than there were with penciled-in names. 'Judd, Darin' and 'Roberts, Crystal' were both lucky enough to be found. However, "Caucasian F, 13yr; Mon, 13: non-responsive, intensive care, (3-22)" and Derek himself, "Caucasian M, 18yr; Sat, 11, non-responsive, critical (2-19)" were the only two columns on the sheet without handwritten updates.

At least he was still alive.

"He's my... my step-brother. He was at a party on Friday. He's 17... Derek, his name is Derek."

Derek's head snapped up to Casey, catching her eyes drift in and out of focus as she thought of him, seemingly trying to use all her concentration to make his name appear on that list. He let his eyes slide down again to where the receptionist was comparing the 's on the list, her finger coming to rest on the only option.

"I only have one male patient here right now." She said, chewing her lip. Derek realized that she had more than likely been briefed on the story of 'the teenage upstairs', how he'd come in after a fight at a party early Saturday morning... it was impossible for him to miss the pieces fitting together in her eyes.

"Yes!" He hissed, too excited to care about the fact that he was more than likely too far gone to be saved, or even notice how Monica didn't light up as if she had just found a name for her two remaining missing persons. "Oh my god, Case, you found me. Yes! This is it!" Derek hopped over the counter, not caring that he knocked the brochures for insurance and grief counseling off onto the floor as he swung his feet over towards his hero.

He came to a stand still in front of her with his widest smile on his face, and took her shoulders in his hands to turn her to face him. Her eyes stayed glued on the clipboard and Derek shook her. "You found me! Casey," he sobered and stared at her eyelids when her unresponsive form refused to look up at something that wasn't really there. "Casey, you found me." He whispered, letting his eyes sweep over her entire face.

Casey gasped so slightly that the receptionist didn't notice, but Derek did and he dropped his arms reflexively. Casey's body turned back to where it should have been- it was never really moved in the first place. Casey reached up a hand to lightly finger the fabric of the oversized Carhart jacket where one of Derek's hands had been, and slowly slid her gaze over to the tile next to her feet, making sure it was still empty.

This time, Casey was positive. She heard him.

* * *

Nora slowly came up the stairs from her basement bedroom and flipped on the light in the kitchen. She was really starting to feel the lack of sleep and all the stress throughout her body; her joints were sore, her jaw was aching from clenching it, and her head pounded.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed a small flood of dim light coming from the third level down the stairs and into the living room. Nora saw that the LED clock on the stove said 2:51am, and turned off the light as she made her way over.

Apparently the second floor hallway in their London home had been turned into some kind of command central. The hall desk had been cleared of the books and homework, and now held Casey's laptop hummed with a slew of open internet windows open, George's cell phone, and about ten hot-pink Post-it notes with numbers and scribbles on them. Below that, on the floor, Edwin lay on his stomach on one of Lizzie's quilts with three different phone books open and a spiral with the makings of phone trees scribbled out. Marti served as a separating wall to where Lizzie herself was laying on the carpet with Derek's grade nine and ten yearbooks open to random pages, and the current years phone directory.

Marty was out cold, and Edwin and Lizzie were awake but looked as though they were about to crash.

"What's going on up here?" Nora asked gently, not wanting the frustration and stress of the overall situation to bleed through in her tone.

Edwin looked up at his step-mother with the biggest pair of Venturi-puppy-dog-eyes Nora had seen to date and let his head fall with a deep sigh. "We're failing, that's what." He answered and let his eyes slide shut.

"We're _trying_ everything." Lizzie corrected, sending her step-brother a glare before giving her mother her own Precious Moments gaze. "But it's too late to call any classmates, so we're just making lists."

Edwin propped himself up on his elbows to continue the explanation. "And both their phones are off so we tried to call the phone company and get the GPS locator turned on for their phones, but..."

"Turns out that's not as easy as it looks on TV," Lizzie finished Edwin's dropped thought with an eye roll.

"Yeah, apparently it's more for the cops to use." Edwin started to try and sit up, but he appeared to have developed some stiffness in his own joints to match Nora's. He slowly turned to sit Indian style and continued, "Derek's history only showed one suspicious e-mail about a party on Friday, but it's too late to call the girl, and it's all the way in Warwick."

"And Warwick is Derek's rival school for hockey, so he wouldn't have gone there, not alone at least."

Edwin nodded at Lizzie. "Besides, the girl who threw the party didn't post anything weird on her MySpace about it, and it's too late to call her."

"You got into her MySpace?" Nora shook the thought, not wanting to know how or why, and continued before he could answer. "Look guys, you're both doing great with trying so hard, but it's late and if we start searching tomorrow we'll need you both rested."

"Mom," Lizzie said, sitting up herself. "Searching isn't going to help any. What are we going to search? The _park?_ We don't have any huge lakes or woods or anything like that to search."

"Honey, you know the police will try, and-"

"Nora, we can't just sit and try and fail all day tomorrow. We have to do something _real_." Edwin stood up to look at Nora. She noticed for the first time that she didn't have to look down at him very far anymore.

Lizzie noticed the power-speech starting, and stood as well. "I don't want to walk around aimlessly, Mom, I want to find Casey and Derek."

Nora's sight seemed to almost buzz in and out of focus as she heard Lizzie's statement. She hadn't really though of both of her oldest children as missing until that moment. Suddenly the gaping hole in her chest doubled. The mother of five placed a hand over the tangible pain and sunk down into the desk chair.

* * *

I'd just like to thank everyone for the reviews I've gotten in the time between chapters. FF readers are among the most faithful! (Cept for me, of course.) Also, thanks for the folks that have secretly dropped little reminders through other stories' reviews to get off my butt and update this. I'm trying, I swear. It's hard for me to write anymore... but I'm trying! Please bear with me!


	10. Tired and Delirious

**I'm trying, I promise. It's so difficult to write for me, but I promise all these unfinished stories will be completed, even if it's only because having unfinished business gives me anxiety lately. **

**Summary: **After having a serious accident, Derek looms around the house unseen, learning things about his family he never expected. Eventual Dasey.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Life With Derek nor The Invisible.**

The Invisible

_Tired and Delirious_

Casey sat in the corner of the Emergency Department's waiting room on a hard chair and slumped down with a grimace. Being told that she couldn't have any information because she was a minor made her angry enough to stay awake and try and think of a plan. Unfortunately, she was distracted enough by the sound of Derek's voice that she couldn't for the life of her think of any way to figure out where he was.

"Casey?" Derek slowly sat down beside her, watching her face closely for any sign that she was able to interpret what he was saying. "Can you hear me?"

Casey shifted uncomfortably in her seat and tucked her mussed hair behind her ear. Underneath her heavy jacket she had goose-bumps running all the way down her arms. Her eyes scanned the ED lobby and tried her hardest to listen for the voice of her step-brother.

Derek sat sideways in one of the stiff chairs and faced Casey completely. He was certain that she had been able to hear him before they had sat down, but now he didn't know how to get through to her again. "Casey? We have to get upstairs... Can you hear me?"

Casey could surely hear him, but she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to admit that this was real. She sat forward in her chair and placed her face in her hands. This situation had flown past 'too much to handle' a _long_ time ago, and she was failing to cope anymore. Rubbing her cheeks with her palms, she realized that the burning sensation in her eyes wasn't just from the extreme tiredness, she was on the brink of tears. With a long sigh, she sat back in the chair and tried blink back the salty pools that made the ceiling blurry as she stared up.

"Casey, come on, I know you could hear me before when-"

"Yes!" Casey hissed angrily, not moving her head from where it leaned against the wall behind her. "Yes, I can hear you, okay?"

Derek smirked at Casey and couldn't help but dart his eyes over to the receiving nurse to watch the questioning glance Casey had received. Just because she was tired and delirious didn't mean she wanted to let other people know.

"Well are you going to sit there all night, or are you going to get up and go upstairs?" Derek asked, leaning towards her and unhooking the long brown tresses from her ear. Casey's hand flinched up quickly to catch the hair before she could comprehend what must have happened. Her eyes widened and she let out a gasp as she stared at the empty seat next to her. Derek took his turn being speechless. The action that finally broke through to Casey startled him almost as much as it did her.

Casey wound her fingers around the chunk of hair and sat up slowly. "This is real," she whispered.

"Yes, Case, it's real." Derek murmured, reaching his hand out towards her once again, this time gently stroking the back of his fingers down her cheek and hoping she would feel it.

Casey's blood ran cold as the word registered in her mind, and her fingers twitched to reach out towards the source of the sound. "How...?" She asked, but then shook her head. She didn't really want to know. He may very well be dead and talking to her from another life, and if that was the case, she didn't want to know. "What do I do?" She asked almost silently, suddenly feeling bright and alert though her eyes stayed on her own feet.

Derek leaned forward and whispered into her ear, "Up."

George watched silently from where he lie awake in bed as Nora padded down the stairs and stood in the dimly lit entrance of their room. She seemed to be lost in a world of thought, her face tormented as her fingertips dully drummed against the doorway. He wanted to get up and go to her, wanted to comfort her and find a solution to make their family piece back together just as suddenly as it had fallen apart.

The house was tense as it had never been before. There hadn't been a joke uttered, not a mention of a deal, a debt or a conspiracy. The children weren't eating, the television hadn't been turned past the news channels, and there hadn't been once single appalled screech from any female in the house... of course there hadn't been one single prank pulled by the males to elicit a scream.

George wanted to get up and comfort his wife, but instead he remained where he was. Half covered by their down comforter, laying in the dark with his hidden gaze on her unseeing face.

Nora's tapping slowed and she sighed before patting the frame twice more and walking towards the bed, unaware that George was watching her. Separately but at the exact same moment, the two of them suddenly saw the extreme and damning error in not pursuing Derek's disappearance as soon as they had noticed he was gone. Unable to envision anything but continued heartbreak, the couple relented to laying awake for the rest of the night.

Tomorrow, George vowed, things would get put straight. He'd fix his family.

* * *

It's short... but I just had to get something up. I promise I'll keep on trucking.


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